{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40610/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40610","id":"gutenberg_40610","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40610","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Leviticus -- Commentaries","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"NOTES\n\n _on the book of_\n\n LEVITICUS\n\n _by_\n C. H. MACKINTOSH\n\n _\"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.\"_\n\n LOIZEAUX BROTHERS\n _Neptune, New Jersey_\n\n FIRST EDITION 1880\n TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING 1965\n\n LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, INC., PUBLISHERS\n _A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work\n and to the Spread of His Truth_\n\n NEPTUNE, NEW JERSEY\n\n PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\nPREFATORY NOTE\n\nTO THE AMERICAN EDITION\n\n\nAs several persons in America have, without any authority whatever\nfrom me, undertaken to publish my four[1] volumes of \"Notes,\" I deem\nit my duty to inform the reader that I have given full permission to\nMessrs. LOIZEAUX BROTHERS to publish an edition of those books in such\nform as they shall consider most suitable.\n\n C. H. MACKINTOSH.\n\n _6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough,\n May 1st, 1879._\n\n [1] Now six.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nIn the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ there is an infinite\nfullness, which meets every necessity of man, both as a sinner and as\na worshiper. The infinite dignity of His Person gives eternal value to\nHis work. In the book of Genesis we have seen \"God's remedy for man's\nruin\" in the promised seed--the Ark of Salvation, and in the rich\nunfoldings of divine grace to fallen and sinful man. There we have the\n_Bud_, the full-blown glories and fragrance of which shall yet fill\nthe heavens and the earth with joy and gladness.\n\nIn the book of Exodus we have seen \"God's answer to man's question.\"\nThere, man is not only outside of Eden, but he has fallen into the\nhands of a cruel and powerful enemy,--he is the bond-slave of the\nworld. How is he to be delivered from Pharaoh's thraldom--from Egypt's\nfurnace? How can he be redeemed, justified, and brought into the\npromised land? God only could answer such questions, and this He did\nin the blood of the slain Lamb. In the redemption-power of that blood,\nevery question is settled. It meets Heaven's highest claims, and man's\ndeepest necessities. Through its amazing efficacy, God is glorified,\nman is redeemed, saved, justified, and brought to God's holy\nhabitation; while the enemy is completely overthrown, and his power\ndestroyed.\n\nAnd now, in our meditations on the book of Leviticus, we find most\nfully unfolded what we may call, \"God's provision for man's need;\" or,\na Sacrifice, a Priest, and a Place of Worship. These are essentially\nnecessary in drawing near unto God, as this book most abundantly\nproves. But every thing therewith connected was appointed by God, and\nestablished by His law. Nothing was left to be supplied by man's\nfertile imagination, or his prudential arrangement.--\"So Aaron and his\nsons did _all things which the Lord commanded_ by the hand of Moses.\"\n(Chap. viii. 36; ix. 6, 7.) Without the word of the Lord, neither\npriest nor people could take a single step in the right direction. _It\nis so still._ There is not a single ray of light in this dark world\nbut that which is shed from holy Scripture.--\"Thy Word is a lamp unto\nmy feet, and a light unto my path.\" (Ps. cxix. 105.) It is truly happy\nwhen the children of God so honor His Word as to be guided by it in\nall things. We need _now_, as much as the Jew did _then_, divine\ndirection and divine guidance for acceptable worship. \"But the hour\ncometh, and now is, when the _true worshipers_ shall worship the\nFather in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship\nHim.\" (John iv. 23, 24.) More than sincerity or devoutness of feeling\nis required in the children's worship: it must be in the unction of\nthe Spirit, and according to the truth of God. But we have all\n(blessed be His name!) in the Person and work of our blessed Lord\nJesus. He is both our Sacrifice and Priest, and our right of entrance\ninto the holiest of all. O, to be kept near to His wounded side, and\nin the abiding sense that He is the ground, the material, and the\nsweet incense of all our worship!\n\nLet us now briefly notice the three points already mentioned.\n\nI. In the first place, we would observe that _sacrifice is the basis\nof worship_. Acceptable worship to God must be based on a sacrifice\nacceptable to Him. Man being in himself guilty and unclean, he needs a\nsacrifice to remove his guilt, cleanse him from his defilements, and\nfit him for the holy presence of God. \"Without shedding of blood is no\nremission;\" and without remission, and the _knowledge_ of remission,\nthere can be no happy worship,--no real, hearty praise, adoration, and\nthanksgiving. Going to what is called \"a place of worship,\" and\nworshiping God, are widely different things. God is holy, and man must\napproach Him in His own way, and according to what He is. As Moses\nsaid unto Aaron on the solemn occasion of the sin of Nadab and Abihu,\n\"This is it that the Lord spake, saying, '_I will be sanctified in\nthem that come nigh Me_, and before all the people I will be\nglorified.'\" The Lord alone could give directions as to how the people\nwere to draw nigh unto Him: this is the great subject of the book of\nLeviticus. The \"Notes\" on the first seven and the sixteenth chapters\nwill give the reader a very full and interesting view of the ordinance\nof sacrifice, and the character of Jewish worship.\n\nIt was on the ground of offered and accepted sacrifice that the\nchildren of Israel were constituted the worshiping people of God. It\nis on the same ground, namely, offered and accepted sacrifice, that\nbelievers in Jesus are constituted the worshiping people of God now.\n(Read carefully Lev. xvi; Heb. ix, x.) They have taken Israel's place,\nbut after a much higher order, whether we look at the sacrifice, the\npriest, or the place of worship. The contrast between them is great,\nand strongly marked in Scripture, especially in the epistle to the\nHebrews. The Jewish sacrifices never reached the _conscience_ of the\nofferer, and the Jewish priest never could pronounce him \"clean every\nwhit.\" The gifts and sacrifices which were offered under the law, as\nthe apostle tells us, \"could not make him that did the service\nperfect, as pertaining to the conscience.\" The conscience, observe,\nalways being the _reflection_ of the sacrifice, it could not be\nperfect, seeing the sacrifice was not perfect; \"for it is not possible\nthat the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.\" Hence,\nJewish worship was connected with inefficient sacrifices, a burdensome\nritual, and an unpurged conscience, which gendered in the worshiper a\nspirit of bondage and fear.\n\nBut, now, mark the contrast to all this in the once-offered and\naccepted sacrifice of Christ. He \"put away sin by the sacrifice of\nHimself.\" All is done. Having \"by Himself purged our sins, He sat down\non the right hand of the Majesty on high.\" When the worshiper comes\nbefore God on the ground of this Sacrifice, he finds that he has\nnothing to do save, as a priest, to show forth the praises of Him \"who\nhath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.\" Even Christ\nhas nothing more to do as regards our justification and acceptance,\n\"for by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are\nsanctified.\" The Jew, by his sacrifice, was merely _ceremonially_\nclean, and that only for a moment, as it were; but the Christian,\nthrough the sacrifice of Christ, is _really_ so, and that forever. Oh,\nthat sweet word, \"FOREVER\"! It is the common privilege of all\nbelievers to be perfected as worshipers before God, \"through the\noffering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.\" On this deeply\nimportant point the testimony of Scripture is most full and explicit.\nFor the worshipers once purged should have _\"no more conscience of\nsins\"_.--\"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all\nsin.\"--\"And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.\" (1\nJohn i. 7; Heb. x.) By the work of Christ for _us_, our sins were all\nput away; and now, by faith in God's word, we know that they are all\nforgiven and forgotten. Hence, we can draw near to God, and stand in\nHis holy presence, in the happy assurance that there is neither sin\nnor stain upon us. Our Great High-Priest has pronounced us \"clean\nevery whit.\" (John xiii.) Believing this, the sense of guilt is taken\naway,--we have \"NO MORE CONSCIENCE OF SINS.\"\n\nThis deeply precious truth, observe, does not mean that there is no\nmore _consciousness_ of sins. Far from it. Or that we may not get a\nbad conscience through failure; or that we need not be exercised \"to\nhave a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man.\" Not at\nall. It simply means that Christ, by the one, perfect, finished\nsacrifice of Himself, has forever put away all our sins--root and\nbranch. And having been led to know and believe this, how can there\nbe sins on the conscience? Christ has put them all away. The precious\nblood of our once-offered and accepted Sacrifice has cleansed us from\nevery spot and stain of sin. There may be the deepest sense of\nindwelling sin, and of many sins and shortcomings in our every-day\nlife, and the painful confession of them all to God; still there is\nthe full assurance that Christ died for our sins, put them all away,\nand that not one of them can ever be laid to our charge. This is\nindeed a most wonderful truth; but it is the great, the needed truth\nfor a worshiper. How could we stand in God's presence, where all is\nperfection, if we were not as clean as He would have us to be? We must\nbe clean enough for the eye of Infinite Holiness. But, blessed be God,\nall who believe in Jesus, and rest on His finished sacrifice, are\nforgiven and justified; they have eternal life, righteousness, and\npeace. The first cry for mercy of the guilty sinner is answered by the\nblood of the Sacrifice. It penetrates to the deepest depths of his\nneed; it raises him to the highest heights of heaven, and fits him to\nbe there, a happy worshiper, in the immediate presence of the throne\nof God.--\"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for\nthe unjust, that He might bring us to God.\"--\"For if the blood of\nbulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean,\nsanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the\nblood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself\nwithout spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve\nthe living God!\" (1 Peter iii. 18; Heb. ix. 13, 14.)\n\nII. In the second place, we have in the rich provisions of God's\ngrace, _the Lord Jesus Christ as our Great High-Priest in the presence\nof God for us_. He ministers there for us.--\"We have such a\nHigh-Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty\nin the heavens; a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true\ntabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.\" (Heb. viii. 1, 2.)\nHis work of sacrifice having been fully completed, He sat down. Aaron\nis represented as being always in a standing position. His work was\nnever finished. He stood \"daily ministering, and offering oftentimes\nthe same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this Man,\nafter He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the\nright hand of God.\" Immediately after the law of the Lord had been\ngiven as to sacrifice, the priesthood was established. (See \"Notes\" on\nchapters viii, ix.) The saints have both in Christ. He is our\nSacrifice and our Priest. He appeared once on the cross _for us_: He\nnow appears in heaven _for us_: ere long He will appear in glory _with\nus_. To know what He accomplished on the cross, and what He is now\ndoing in the sanctuary above, will nourish in our hearts the hope of\nHis coming, and lead us to long for His appearing in glory.\n\nIn the New Testament we only read of two orders of priests, namely,\nChrist as the Great High-Priest in heaven, and the common priesthood\nof all believers on the earth. \"Ye also, as lively stones, are built\nup a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual\nsacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.\" (1 Peter ii. 5.) And\nagain, \"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own\nblood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.\"\n(Rev. i. 5. 6.) These passages clearly prove the common standing of\nall believers as priests unto God. There is no mention in the New\nTestament of any peculiar class or order of Christians who hold the\noffice of priests, as distinct from other Christians. Christ is the\n_Great_ High-Priest over the house of God, and all His people are, in\nvirtue of their connection with Him, priests, and privileged to enter,\nas once-purged worshipers, into the holiest of all. Even the apostles\nnever took the place of priests, as distinct from or superior to the\nhumblest child of God. They might know their privileges better than\nmany, and enjoy them more. Their gifts and callings as to the ministry\nof the Word were distinct and special, but as worshipers, they stood\non the same ground as all others, and, together with them, worshiped\nGod through Jesus Christ, the Great High-Priest of all His people.\n\nIn the priestly ministry of our blessed Lord, there are many points of\nspecial interest; we only notice the two following:--\n\n1. As our Great High-Priest, He _represents_ us in the sanctuary\nabove. And, oh, what a Representative!--God's beloved Son, the\nglorified Man, whose name is above every name!--\"For Christ is not\nentered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of\nthe true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God\n_for us_.\" (Heb. ix. 24.) Oh, what dignity! what nearness to God is\nours! Oh that our hearts appreciated it more! When Aaron appeared\nbefore the Lord in his garments of glory and beauty, he represented\nthe children of Israel. Their names were engraven in precious stones\nin the beautiful breastplate. Blessed type of our real and everlasting\nplace in the heart of Christ, who appears, not _annually_, like Aaron\nof old, but _continually_ in the presence of God _for us_. The name of\neach believer is kept continually before the eye of God, in all the\nglory and beauty of Christ, His well-beloved Son. He is our\nrighteousness, we possess His life, enjoy His peace, are filled with\nHis joy, and radiate His glory. Although without right, title, or\nprivilege in ourselves, we have all in Him. He is there _for us_ and\n_as us_. His name be forever praised.\n\n \"He stands in heaven their Great High-Priest,\n And bears their names upon His breast.\"\n\nIt is by His continual intercession in heaven that saints on earth are\nsuccored and sustained in their wilderness journey, and, at the same\ntime, upheld as worshipers within the vail, in all the sweet fragrance\nof His own divine excellencies; and neither their ignorance nor their\nlack of enjoyment of these things alters or affects their blessed,\nglorious, and eternal reality, \"seeing He ever liveth to make\nintercession for them.\" (Heb. vii. 25.)\n\n2. As our Great High-Priest, He presents to God the gifts and\nsacrifices of His worshiping people. Under the law, the worshiper\nbrought his offering to the priest, and by him it was presented to the\nLord, on His own altar. Every thing was arranged by the priest,\naccording to the word of the Lord. How perfectly all this is done for\nthe worshiper now by his High-Priest in heaven! Our prayers, praises,\nand thanksgiving, all pass through His hands before they reach the\nthrone of God. What a wonderful mercy this is, when we think of our\nconfused and mixed services! So much that is of the flesh mingles with\nthat which is of the Spirit. But the blessed Lord knows how to divide\nand separate between them. That which is of the flesh must be\nrejected, and consumed as wood, hay, and stubble, while that which is\nof the Spirit is precious, preserved, and presented to God in the\nvalue and sweet savor of His own perfect sacrifice. \"_By Him_\ntherefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,\nthat is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto His name.\" (Heb.\nxiii. 15.) The kindness of the Philippians to Paul was \"an odor of a\nsweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.\" Hence the\nimportance of the exhortation, \"Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do\nall in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father\nby Him.\" (Col. iii. 17.)\n\nIII. In the third place, we observe that _the Christian's only place\nof worship is inside the vail_, \"whither the Forerunner is for us\nentered.\" Outside the camp is his place as a witness; inside the vail\nis his place as a worshiper. In both positions Christ is surely with\nhim. \"Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His\nreproach.\" \"Having therefore, brethren, _boldness to enter into the\nholiest_ by the blood of Jesus.\" (Heb. xiii. 13; x. 19.) To know these\ntwo positions in communion with Christ Himself, through the teaching\nof the Spirit, is unspeakable blessedness. The Church has no divinely\nconsecrated place of worship on earth. Our place is in heaven, in\nvirtue of the sacrifice and of the priestly ministry of Christ there\nfor us. Whatever may be the character of the building in which\nChristians are gathered together in the name of the Lord Jesus, their\ntrue and only sphere of worship is the heavenly sanctuary. Through\nfaith in God's word, and by the power of His Holy Spirit, they worship\nHim in \"the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.\"\n\nIsrael had \"a worldly sanctuary,\" and accordingly the character of\ntheir worship was worldly; \"the way into the holiest of all was not\nyet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.\"\nBut the way has been opened up by the blood of Jesus. The same stroke\nthat slew the Lamb rent the vail from top to bottom. The way into the\nholiest of all was then laid open, and Christ, with all His\nblood-washed ones, entered into the immediate presence of God, without\na vail. There is no _outer_-court-worship now for the people, and\n_temple_-worship for the priest, as under the law. These distinctions\nare unknown in the Church of the living God. It is all priestly\nworship and temple worship now. All are equally near, all have equal\nliberty, all are equally acceptable, through the presence and\nintervention of the Great High-Priest of His people. The same precious\nblood that cleansed us from all sin, has brought us near to God as\nchildren, and as worshiping priests. And if we really know the\nwondrous efficacy and power of that blood in the heavenly places, we\nshall be at home and happy there in all the liberty and dignity of\nsonship, and in all the official nearness and standing of once-purged\nworshipers, in the most holy place.\n\nOh that our hearts may be kept in the sweet remembrance, knowledge,\nand power of the rich provisions of God's grace for all our need! Oh\nthat we may never lose sight of the blood on the mercy-seat, the\nMinister of the sanctuary, and of our holy, heavenly, and eternal\nplace of worship!\n\nWe must now leave the dear reader, earnestly commending to his most\nprayerful and diligent study this precious book of Leviticus. The\nlight which it sheds on the Person and work of Christ--the ground and\ncharacter of our communion with God, is deeply blessed to the heart\nthat desires to live in the enjoyment of these eternal realities. He\nwill find the \"Notes\" most helpful in unfolding the text, and in\ngiving an interesting and practical view to many of the ceremonies\nwhich we are prone to pass over as uninteresting and uninstructive to\nus. See, for example, the eleventh chapter.\n\nAnd now, may the Lord graciously own, use, and bless this little\nvolume, for the glory of His own name, and for the comfort and\nblessing of many precious souls.\n\n _A. M._\n _London, May, 1860._\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION\n\n\nThe rapid sale of a large edition of this volume evidences an amount\nof interest in the study of the book of Leviticus for which I\nunfeignedly bless the Lord. Too many, even of the people of God, seem\nto think that this section of inspiration contains nothing of any\ninterest or value to them. They regard it as a detail of rites and\nceremonies with which they have nothing to do--a record of by-gone\ninstitutions, affording no instruction or edification for them. That\nthis is a great mistake, thousands are now discovering. Very many who\nfor years looked upon the book of Leviticus as little more than a dry\ncatalogue of Jewish ordinances, are now discovering in it an\nexhaustless mine of spiritual wealth, for which they cannot be too\nthankful. They have brought its marvelous pages under the light of the\nNew Testament scriptures, and they can only wonder at that which is\nnow unfolded to their gaze. That they may discover yet more of the\nprecious treasure, is my earnest desire on their behalf.\n\nI have carefully revised the following pages, and, I may say, I have\nleft them very much as I found them. An expression here and there\nwhich seemed likely to be misunderstood, I have slightly touched. I\nhave also added a brief note or two. These trifling matters excepted,\nthe second edition is a reprint of the first, and, as such, it is\nagain committed to the care of Him from whom all blessings flow. May\nHe be graciously pleased to crown it still further with the stamp of\nHis approval. His seal and sanction are all that any book requires to\nmake it useful; and truly, we may say, the book that has not these\nhas nothing.\n\nThe Lord grant a more abundant blessing, and His name shall have all\nthe praise.\n\n _C. H. M._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n _Page._\n\n CHAPTER I, 1\n\n \" II, 30\n\n \" III, 71\n\n \" IV.-V. 13, 102\n\n \" V. 14-VI. 7, 134\n\n \" VIII. & IX, 152\n\n \" X, 175\n\n \" XI, 200\n\n \" XII, 218\n\n \" XIII. & XIV, 225\n\n \" XV, 270\n\n \" XVI, 277\n\n \" XVII, 302\n\n \" XVIII.-XX, 307\n\n \" XXI. & XXII, 321\n\n \" XXIII, 330\n\n \" XXIV, 353\n\n \" XXV, 362\n\n \" XXVI, 373\n\n \" XXVII, 377\n\n\n\n\nNOTES ON THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nEre entering upon the details of the chapter before us, there are two\nthings which demand our careful consideration; namely, first,\nJehovah's position; and secondly, the order in which the offerings are\npresented.\n\n\"And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the\ntabernacle of the congregation.\" Such was the position from which\nJehovah made the communications contained in this book. He had been\nspeaking from Mount Sinai, and His position there gave marked\ncharacter to the communication. From the fiery mount \"went a fiery\nlaw;\" but here, He speaks \"out of the tabernacle of the congregation.\"\nThis was an entirely different position. We have seen this tabernacle\nset up, at the close of the preceding book.--\"And he reared up the\ncourt round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging\nof the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered\nthe tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the\ntabernacle.... For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by\nday, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of\nIsrael, throughout all their journeys.\" (Exod. xl. 33-38.)\n\nNow, the tabernacle was God's dwelling-place in grace. He could take\nup His abode there, because He was surrounded on all sides by that\nwhich vividly set forth the ground of His relationship with the\npeople. Had He come into their midst in the full display of the\ncharacter revealed upon Mount Sinai, it could only have been to\n\"consume them in a moment,\" as \"a stiff-necked people;\" but He retired\nwithin the vail--type of Christ's flesh (Heb. x. 20.), and took His\nplace on the mercy-seat, where the blood of atonement, and not the\n\"stiff-neckedness\" of Israel, was that which met His view and\nsatisfied the claims of His nature. The blood which was brought into\nthe sanctuary by the high-priest was the type of that precious blood\nwhich cleanses from all sin; and although Israel after the flesh saw\nnothing of this, it nevertheless justified God in abiding amongst\nthem--it \"sanctified to the purifying of the flesh.\" (Heb. ix. 13.)\n\nThus much as to Jehovah's position in this book, which must be taken\ninto account in order to a proper understanding of the communications\nmade therein. In them we shall find inflexible holiness united with\nthe purest grace. God is holy, no matter from whence He speaks. He was\nholy on Mount Sinai, and holy above the mercy-seat; but in the former\ncase, His holiness stood connected with \"a devouring fire,\" in the\nlatter, it was connected with patient grace. Now the connection of\nperfect holiness with perfect grace is that which characterizes the\nredemption which is in Christ Jesus, which redemption is, in various\nways, shadowed forth in the book of Leviticus. God must be holy, even\nthough it should be in the eternal condemnation of impenitent sinners;\nbut the full display of His holiness in the salvation of sinners calls\nforth Heaven's loudest and loftiest note of praise.--\"Glory to God in\nthe highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.\" (Luke ii. 14.)\nThis doxology could not have been sung in connection with \"the fiery\nlaw.\" No doubt there was \"glory to God in the highest,\" but there was\nno \"peace on earth\" nor \"good pleasure in men,\" inasmuch as it was the\ndeclaration of what men ought to be ere God could take pleasure in\nthem. But when \"the Son\" took His place as a man on the earth, the\nmind of Heaven could express its entire delight in Him as the One\nwhose Person and work could combine, in the most perfect manner,\ndivine glory with human blessedness.\n\nAnd now, one word as to the order of the offerings, in the opening\nchapters of the book of Leviticus. The Lord begins with the\nburnt-offering, and ends with the trespass-offering. That is to say,\nHe leaves off where we begin. This order is marked and most\ninstructive. When first the arrow of conviction enters the soul, there\nare deep searchings of conscience in reference to sins actually\ncommitted. Memory casts back its enlightened eye over the page of\none's past life, and sees it stained with numberless trespasses\nagainst God and man. At this point of the soul's history, it is not so\nmuch occupied with the question of the root from whence those\ntrespasses have sprung, as with the stern and palpable fact that such\nand such things have actually been committed; and hence it needs to\nknow that God has provided a Sacrifice through which \"all trespasses\"\ncan be \"frankly forgiven.\" This is presented to us in the\ntrespass-offering.\n\nBut, as one advances in the divine life, he becomes conscious that\nthose _sins_ which he has committed are but branches from a root,\nstreams from a fountain; and, moreover, that _sin_ in his nature is\nthat fountain--that root. This leads to far deeper exercise, which can\nonly be met by a deeper insight into the work of the cross. In a word,\nthe cross will need to be apprehended as that in which God Himself has\n\"condemned _sin in the flesh_.\" (Rom. viii. 3.) My reader will\nobserve, it does not say, \"_sins_ in the _life_,\" but the root from\nwhence these have sprung, namely, \"_sin_ in the _flesh_.\" This is a\ntruth of immense importance. Christ not merely \"died for our _sins_,\naccording to the Scriptures,\" but He was \"made _sin_ for us.\" (2 Cor.\nv. 21.) This is the doctrine of the sin-offering.\n\nNow, it is when the heart and conscience are set at rest, through the\nknowledge of Christ's work, that we can feed upon Himself as the\nground of our peace and joy in the presence of God. The\ntrespass-offering and the sin-offering must be known ere the\npeace-offering, joy-offering, or thanksgiving-offering can be\nappreciated. Hence, therefore, the order in which the peace-offering\nstands corresponds with the order of our spiritual apprehension of\nChrist.\n\nThe same perfect order is observable in reference to the\nmeat-offering. When the soul is led to taste the sweetness of\nspiritual communion with Christ--to feed upon Him, in peace and\nthankfulness, in the divine presence, it is drawn out in earnest\ndesire to know more of the wondrous mysteries of His Person; and this\ndesire is most blessedly met in the meat-offering, which is the type\nof Christ's perfect manhood.\n\nThen, in the burnt-offering, we are conducted to a point beyond which\nit is impossible to go, and that is, the work of the cross, as\naccomplished under the immediate eye of God, and as the expression of\nthe unswerving devotion of the heart of Christ. All these things will\ncome before us, in beauteous detail, as we pass along; we are here\nonly looking at the order of the offerings, which is truly marvelous,\nwhichever way we travel, whether _outward_ from God to us, or _inward_\nfrom us to God. In either case, we begin with the cross and end with\nthe cross. If we begin with the burnt-offering, we see Christ, on the\ncross, doing the will of God--making atonement according to the\nmeasure of His perfect surrender of Himself to God. If we begin with\nthe trespass-offering, we see Christ, on the cross, bearing our sins,\nand putting them away according to the perfection of His atoning\nsacrifice; while in each and all we behold the excellency, the beauty,\nand the perfection of His divine and adorable Person. Surely, all this\nis sufficient to awaken in our hearts the deepest interest in the\nstudy of those precious types which we shall now proceed to consider\nin detail. And may God the Holy Ghost, who penned the book of\nLeviticus, expound its contents in living power to our hearts, that\nso, when we have reached the close, we may have abundant cause to\nbless His name for many thrilling and soul-stirring views of the\nPerson and work of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom\nbe glory, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn the burnt-offering, with which our book opens, we have a type of\nChrist \"offering Himself without spot to God.\" Hence the position\nwhich the Holy Ghost assigns to it. If the Lord Jesus Christ came\nforth to accomplish the glorious work of atonement, His highest and\nmost fondly cherished object in so doing was the glory of God. \"Lo, I\ncome to do Thy will, O God,\" was the grand motto in every scene and\ncircumstance of His life, and in none more markedly than in the work\nof the cross. Let the will of God be what it might, He came to do it.\nBlessed be God, we know what our portion is in the accomplishment of\nthis \"will;\" for by it \"we are sanctified, through the offering of the\nbody of Jesus Christ once.\" (Heb. x. 10.) Still, the primary aspect\nof Christ's work was Godward. It was an ineffable delight to Him to\naccomplish the will of God on this earth. No one had ever done this\nbefore. Some had, through grace, done \"that which was right in the\nsight of the Lord;\" but no one had ever perfectly, invariably, from\nfirst to last, without hesitation, and without divergence, done the\nwill of God. But this was exactly what the Lord Jesus did. He was\n\"obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.\" (Phil. ii. 8.) \"He\nsteadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.\" And as He walked from\nthe garden of Gethsemane to the cross of Calvary, the intense devotion\nof His heart told itself forth in these accents,--\"The cup which My\nFather hath given Me, shall I not drink it?\"\n\nNow, in all this self-emptied devotedness to God there was truly a\nsweet savor. A perfect Man on the earth accomplishing the will of God,\neven in death, was an object of amazing interest to the mind of\nHeaven. Who could fathom the profound depths of that devoted heart\nwhich displayed itself, under the eye of God, on the cross? Surely,\nnone but God; for in this, as in every thing else, it holds good that\n\"no man knoweth the Son, but the Father,\" and no one can know aught\nabout Him save as the Father reveals Him. The mind of man can, in some\nmeasure, grasp any subject of knowledge \"under the sun,\"--human\nscience can be laid hold of by the human intellect; but no man knoweth\nthe Son save as the Father reveals Him, by the power of the Holy\nGhost, through the written Word. The Holy Ghost delights to reveal\nthe Son--to take of the things of Jesus and show them unto us. These\nthings we have, in all their fullness and beauty, in the Word. There\ncan be no new revelation, inasmuch as the Spirit brought \"_all_\nthings\" to the apostles' memory, and led them into \"_all_ truth.\"\nThere can be nothing beyond \"all truth;\" and hence, all pretension to\na new revelation and the development of new truth (meaning thereby\ntruth not contained in the sacred canon of inspiration) is an effort\non man's part to add to what God calls \"all truth.\" No doubt the\nSpirit may unfold and apply, with new and extraordinary power, truth\ncontained in the Word; but this is obviously a very different thing\nfrom our traveling outside the range of divine revelation for the\npurpose of finding principles, ideas, or dogmas which shall command\nthe conscience. This latter can only be regarded in the light of\nimpious presumption.\n\nIn the gospel narrative, we have Christ presented to us in the varied\nphases of His character, His Person, and His work. To those precious\ndocuments the people of God in all ages have rejoiced to betake\nthemselves, and drink in their heavenly revelations of the object of\ntheir love and confidence--the One to whom they owed every thing, for\ntime and eternity. But very few, comparatively, have ever been led to\nregard the rites and ceremonies of the Levitical economy as fraught\nwith the most minute instruction in reference to the same commanding\ntheme. The offerings of Leviticus, for example, have been too much\nregarded as so many antiquated records of Jewish customs, conveying no\nintelligible voice to our ears--no spiritual light to our\nunderstandings. However, it must be admitted that the apparently\nabstruse records of Leviticus, as well as the sublime strains of\nIsaiah, take their place amongst the \"things which were written\naforetime,\" and they are, therefore, \"for our learning.\" True, we\nshall need to study those records, as indeed all Scripture, with a\nhumble, self-emptied spirit; with reverent dependence upon the\nteaching of Him who graciously penned them for us; with sedulous\nattention to the general scope, bearing, and analogy of the entire\nbody of divine revelation; with an effectual curb on the imagination,\nthat it may not take unhallowed flights; but if thus, through grace,\nwe enter upon the study of the types of Leviticus, we shall find in\nthem a vein of the richest and finest ore.\n\nWe shall now proceed to examine the burnt-offering, which, as we have\nremarked, presents Christ offering Himself without spot to God.\n\n\"If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a\nmale, without blemish.\" The essential glory and dignity of Christ's\nPerson form the basis of Christianity. He imparts that dignity and\nglory to every thing He does, and to every office He sustains. No\noffice could possibly add glory to Him who is \"God over all, blessed\nforever\"--\"God manifest in the flesh\"--the glorious \"Immanuel\"--\"God\nwith us\"--the Eternal Word--the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.\nWhat office could add to the dignity of such an One? In point of\nfact, we know that all His offices are connected with His humanity;\nand in assuming that humanity, He stooped from the glory which He had\nwith the Father before the world was. He thus stooped in order to\nglorify God perfectly in the very midst of a scene where all was\nhostile to Him. He came to be \"eaten up\" by a holy, unquenchable zeal\nfor the glory of God, and the effectual carrying out of His eternal\ncounsels.\n\nThe unblemished male of the first year was a type of the Lord Jesus\nChrist offering Himself for the perfect accomplishment of the will of\nGod. There should be nothing expressive either of weakness or\nimperfection. \"A male of the first year\" was required. We shall see,\nwhen we come to examine the other offerings, that \"a female\" was in\nsome cases permitted; but that was only expressive of the imperfection\nwhich attached to the worshiper's apprehension, and in no wise of any\ndefect in the offering, inasmuch as it was \"unblemished\" in the one\ncase as well as in the other. Here, however, it was an offering of the\nvery highest order, because it was Christ offering Himself to God.\nChrist, in the burnt-offering, was exclusively for the eye and heart\nof God. This point should be distinctly apprehended. God alone could\nduly estimate the Person and work of Christ; He alone could fully\nappreciate the cross as the expression of Christ's perfect\ndevotedness. The cross, as foreshadowed by the burnt-offering, had an\nelement in it which only the divine mind could apprehend; it had\ndepths so profound, that neither mortal nor angel could fathom them.\nThere was a voice in it which was intended exclusively for, and went\ndirectly to, the ear of the Father. There were communications between\nthe cross of Calvary and the throne of God which lay far beyond the\nhighest range of created intelligence.\n\n\"He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the\ntabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.\" The use of the word\n\"_voluntary_\" here brings out with great clearness the grand idea in\nthe burnt-offering. It leads us to contemplate the cross in an aspect\nwhich is not sufficiently apprehended. We are too apt to look upon the\ncross merely as the place where the great question of sin was gone\ninto and settled between eternal Justice and the spotless Victim--as\nthe place where our guilt was atoned for, and where Satan was\ngloriously vanquished. Eternal and universal praise to redeeming love!\nthe cross was all this; but it was more than this,--it was the place\nwhere Christ's love to the Father was told out in language which only\nthe Father could hear and understand. It is in the latter aspect that\nwe have it typified in the burnt-offering, and therefore it is that\nthe word \"voluntary\" occurs. Were it merely a question of the\nimputation of sin, and of enduring the wrath of God on account of sin,\nsuch an expression would not be in moral order. The blessed Lord Jesus\ncould not, with strict propriety, be represented as _willing_ to be\n\"made sin\"--_willing_ to endure the wrath of God and the hiding of\nHis countenance; and in this one fact we learn, in the clearest\nmanner, that the _burnt-offering does not foreshadow Christ on the\ncross bearing sin_, but Christ on the cross accomplishing the will of\nGod. That Christ Himself contemplated the cross in these two aspects\nof it is evident from His own words. When He looked at the cross as\nthe place of sin-bearing--when He anticipated the horrors with which,\nin this point of view, it stood invested, He exclaimed, \"Father, if\nThou be willing, remove this cup from Me.\" (Luke xxiii. 42.) He shrank\nfrom that which His work, as a sin-bearer, involved. His pure and holy\nmind shrank from the thought of contact with sin, and His loving heart\nshrank from the thought of losing, for a moment, the light of God's\ncountenance.\n\nBut then, the cross had another aspect. It stood before the eye of\nChrist as a scene in which He could fully tell out all the deep\nsecrets of His love to the Father--a place in which He could, \"of His\nown voluntary will,\" take the cup which the Father had given Him, and\ndrain it to the very dregs. True it is that the whole life of Christ\nemitted a fragrant odor, which ever ascended to the Father's\nthrone--He did always those things which pleased the Father--He ever\ndid the will of God; but the burnt-offering does not typify Him in His\nlife--precious, beyond all thought, as was every act of that\nlife,--but in His death, and in that, not as one \"made a curse for\nus,\" but as one presenting to the heart of the Father an odor of\nincomparable fragrance.\n\nThis truth invests the cross with peculiar charms for the spiritual\nmind. It imparts to the sufferings of our blessed Lord an interest of\nthe most intense character. The guilty sinner, no doubt, finds in the\ncross a divine answer to the deepest and most earnest cravings of\nheart and conscience: the true believer finds in the cross that which\ncaptivates every affection of his heart, and transfixes his whole\nmoral being: the angels find in the cross a theme for ceaseless\nadmiration. All this is true; but there is that in the cross which\npasses far beyond the loftiest conceptions of saints or angels,\nnamely, the deep-toned devotion of the heart of the Son presented to\nand appreciated by the heart of the Father. This is the elevated\naspect of the cross which is so strikingly shadowed forth in the\nburnt-offering.\n\nAnd here let me remark that the distinctive beauty of the\nburnt-offering must be entirely sacrificed if we admit the idea that\nChrist was a sin-bearer all His life. There would then be no force, no\nvalue, no meaning in the word \"voluntary.\" There could be no room for\nvoluntary action in the case of one who was compelled, by the very\nnecessity of his position, to yield up his life. If Christ were a\nsin-bearer in His life, then, assuredly, His death must have been a\n_necessary_, not a voluntary, act. Indeed, it may be safely asserted\nthat there is not one of the offerings the beauty of which would not\nbe marred, and its strict integrity sacrificed, by the theory of _a\nlife_ of sin-bearing. In the burnt-offering, this is especially the\ncase, inasmuch as it is not, in it, a question of sin-bearing, or\nenduring the wrath of God, but entirely one of voluntary devotedness,\nmanifested in the death of the cross. In the burnt-offering, we\nrecognize a type of God the Son accomplishing, by God the Spirit, the\nwill of God the Father. This He did \"of His own voluntary will.\"\n\"Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I\nmight take it again.\" (John x. 17.) Here we have the burnt-offering\naspect of the death of Christ. On the other hand, the prophet,\ncontemplating Him as the sin-offering, says, \"His life _is taken_ from\nthe earth\" (Acts. viii. 33.) (which is the LXX. version of Isaiah\nliii. 8.). Again, Christ says, \"No one [\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2] taketh it from Me,\nbut I lay it down of Myself.\" Was He a sin-bearer when He said this?\nObserve, it is \"No one,\"--man, angel, devil, or else. It was His own\nvoluntary act, to lay down His life that He might take it again. \"I\ndelight to do Thy will, O My God.\" Such was the language of the divine\nburnt-offering--of Him who found His unutterable joy in offering\nHimself without spot to God.\n\nNow, it is of the last importance to apprehend with distinctness the\nprimary object of the heart of Christ in the work of redemption. It\ntends to consolidate the believer's peace. The accomplishment of God's\nwill, the establishment of God's counsels, and the display of God's\nglory, occupied the fullest, deepest, and largest place in that\ndevoted heart which viewed and estimated every thing in reference to\nGod. The Lord Jesus never once stopped to inquire how any act or\ncircumstance would affect Himself. \"He humbled Himself\"--\"He made\nHimself of no reputation\"--He surrendered all. And hence, when He\narrived at the close of His career, He could look back upon it all,\nand say, with His eyes lifted up to heaven, \"I have glorified Thee on\nthe earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.\" (John\nxvii. 4.) It is impossible to contemplate the work of Christ, in this\naspect of it, without having the heart filled with the sweetest\naffections toward His Person. It does not detract, in the smallest\ndegree, from our sense of His love to us, to know that He made God His\nprimary object in the work of the cross. Quite the opposite. His love\nto us, and our salvation in Him, could only be founded upon God's\nestablished glory. That glory must form the solid basis of every\nthing. \"As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the\nglory of the Lord.\" (Numb. xiv. 21.) But we know that God's eternal\nglory and the creature's eternal blessedness are, in the divine\ncounsels, inseparably linked together, so that if the former be\nsecured, the latter must needs be so likewise.\n\n\"And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it\nshall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him.\" The act of\nlaying on of hands was expressive of full identification. By that\nsignificant act, the offerer and the offering became one; and this\noneness, in the ease of the burnt-offering, secured for the offerer\nall the acceptableness of his offering. The application of this to\nChrist and the believer sets forth a truth of the most precious\nnature, and one largely developed in the New Testament, namely, the\nbeliever's everlasting identification with, and acceptance in, Christ.\n\"As He is, so are we in this world.\" \"We are in Him that is true.\" (1\nJohn iv. 17; v. 20.) Nothing, in any measure, short of this could\navail. The man who is not in Christ is in his sins. There is no middle\nground: you must be either in Christ or out of Him. There is no such\nthing as being _partly_ in Christ. If there is a single hair's breadth\nbetween you and Christ, you are in an actual state of wrath and\ncondemnation; but, on the other hand, if you are in Him, then are you\n\"as He is\" before God, and so accounted in the presence of infinite\nholiness. Such is the plain teaching of the Word of God. \"Ye are\ncomplete in Him\"--\"accepted in the Beloved\"--\"members of His body, of\nHis flesh, and of His bones.\" \"He that is joined unto the Lord is one\nspirit.\" (1 Cor. vi. 17; Eph. i. 6; v. 30; Col. ii. 10.) Now, it is\nnot possible that the Head can be in one degree of acceptance and the\nmembers in another. No; the head and the members are one. God counts\nthem one, and therefore they are one. This truth is at once the ground\nof the loftiest confidence, and of the most profound humility. It\nimparts the fullest assurance of \"boldness in the day of judgment,\"\ninasmuch as it is not possible that aught can be laid to the charge of\nHim with whom we are united: it imparts the deep sense of our own\nnothingness, inasmuch as our union with Christ is founded upon the\ndeath of nature and the utter abolition of all its claims and\npretensions.\n\nSince, therefore, the Head and the members are viewed in the same\nposition of infinite favor and acceptance before God, it is perfectly\nevident that all the members stand in one acceptance, in one\nsalvation, in one life, in one righteousness. There are no degrees in\njustification. The babe in Christ stands in the same justification as\nthe saint of fifty years' experience. The one is in Christ, and so is\nthe other; and this, as it is the only ground of life, so it is the\nonly ground of justification. There are not two kinds of life, neither\nare there two kinds of justification. No doubt there are various\nmeasures of enjoyment of this justification--various degrees in the\nknowledge of its fullness and extent--various degrees in the ability\nto exhibit its power upon the heart and life; and these things are\nfrequently confounded with the justification itself, which, as being\ndivine, is necessarily eternal, absolute, unvarying, entirely\nunaffected by the fluctuations of human feeling and experience.\n\nBut, further, there is no such thing as progress in justification. The\nbeliever is not more justified today than he was yesterday; nor will\nhe be more justified to-morrow than he is to-day; yea, a soul who is\n\"in Christ Jesus\" is as completely justified as if he were before the\nthrone. He is \"_complete_ in Christ;\" he is \"_as_\" Christ. He is, on\nChrist's own authority, \"clean every whit.\" (John xiii. 10.) What\nmore could he be at this side of the glory? He may [and if he walks in\nthe Spirit, will] make progress in the sense and enjoyment of this\nglorious reality; but, as to the thing itself, the moment he, by the\npower of the Holy Ghost, believed the gospel, he passed from a\npositive state of unrighteousness and condemnation into a positive\nstate of righteousness and acceptance. All this is based upon the\ndivine perfectness of Christ's work; just as, in the case of the\nburnt-offering, the worshiper's acceptance was based upon the\nacceptableness of his offering. It was not a question of what he was,\nbut simply of what the sacrifice was.--\"_It_ shall be accepted _for\nhim_, to make atonement for him.\"\n\n\"And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord; and the priests,\nAaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round\nabout upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the\ncongregation.\" It is most needful, in studying the doctrine of the\nburnt-offering, to bear in mind that the grand point set forth therein\nis not the meeting of the sinner's need, but the presentation to God\nof that which was infinitely acceptable to Him. Christ as foreshadowed\nby the burnt-offering is not for the sinner's conscience, but for the\nheart of God. Further, the cross in the burnt-offering is not the\nexhibition of the exceeding hatefulness of sin, but of Christ's\nunshaken and unshakable devotedness to the Father; neither is it the\nscene of God's outpoured wrath on Christ the sin-bearer, but of the\nFather's unmingled complacency in Christ the voluntary and most\nfragrant Sacrifice. Finally, \"atonement\" as seen in the burnt-offering\nis not merely commensurate with the claims of man's conscience, but\nwith the intense desire of the heart of Christ to carry out the will\nand establish the counsels of God--a desire which stopped not short of\nsurrendering up His spotless, precious life, as \"a voluntary offering\"\nof \"sweet savor\" to God.\n\nFrom the carrying out of this desire, no power of earth or hell, men\nor devils, could shake Him. When Peter ignorantly sought to dissuade\nHim, by words of false tenderness, from encountering the shame and\ndegradation of the cross--\"Pity Thyself, Lord: this shall not be unto\nThee\"--what was the reply? \"Get thee behind Me, Satan: Thou art an\noffense unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but\nthose that be of men.\" (Matt. xvi. 22, 23.) So, also, on another\noccasion, He says to His disciples, \"Hereafter I will not talk much\nwith you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.\nBut that the world may know that _I love the Father_, and as the\nFather gave Me commandment, even so I do.\" (John xiv. 30.) These and\nnumerous other kindred scriptures bring out the burnt-offering phase\nof Christ's work, in which, it is evident, the primary thought is His\n\"offering Himself without spot to God.\"\n\nIn full keeping with all that has been stated in reference to the\nspecial point in the burnt-offering, is the place which Aaron's sons\nget, and the functions assigned them therein. They \"sprinkle the\nblood;\" they \"put the fire upon the altar;\" they \"lay the wood in\norder upon the fire;\" they \"lay the parts, the head and the fat, in\norder upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.\"\nThese are very prominent actions, and they form a marked feature of\nthe burnt-offering, as contrasted with the sin-offering, in which\nAaron's sons are not mentioned at all. \"The sons of Aaron\" represent\nthe Church, not as \"one body,\" but as a priestly house. This is easily\napprehended. If Aaron was a type of Christ, then Aaron's house was a\ntype of Christ's house, as we read, in Heb. iii, \"But Christ as a Son\nover His own house; whose house are we.\" And again, \"Behold I and the\nchildren whom God hath given Me.\" Now, it is the privilege of the\nChurch, as led and taught by the Holy Ghost, to gaze upon and delight\nin that aspect of Christ which is presented in this opening type of\nLeviticus. \"Our fellowship is with the Father,\" who graciously calls\nus to participate with Him in His thoughts about Christ. True, we can\nnever rise to the height of those thoughts, but we can have fellowship\ntherein, by the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us. It is not here a\nquestion of having the conscience tranquilized by the blood of Christ\nas the sin-bearer, but of communion with God in the matter of Christ's\nperfect surrender of Himself on the cross.\n\n\"_The priests_, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the\nblood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle\nof the congregation.\" Here we have a type of the Church bringing the\nmemorial of an accomplished sacrifice, and presenting it in the place\nof individual approach to God. But we must remember, it is the blood\nof the burnt-offering, and not of the sin-offering;--it is the Church,\nin the power of the Holy Ghost, entering into the stupendous thought\nof Christ's accomplished devotedness to God, and not a convicted\nsinner entering into the value of the blood of the sin-bearer. I need\nhardly say that the Church is composed of sinners, and convicted\nsinners, too; but \"Aaron's sons\" do not represent convicted sinners,\nbut worshiping saints,--it is as \"_priests_\" they have to do with the\nburnt-offering. Many err as to this. They imagine that because one\ntakes the place of a worshiper (being invited by the grace of God, and\nfitted by the blood of Christ so to do), he thereby refuses to\nacknowledge himself a poor worthless sinner. This is a great mistake.\nThe believer is, in himself, \"nothing at all;\" but in Christ, he is a\npurged worshiper. He does not stand in the sanctuary as a guilty\nsinner, but as a worshiping priest, clothed in \"garments of glory and\nbeauty.\" To be occupied with my guilt in the presence of God is not\nhumility as regards myself, but unbelief as regards the Sacrifice.\n\nHowever, it must be very evident to my reader that the idea of\nsin-bearing--the imputation of sin--the wrath of God--does not appear\nin the burnt-offering. True, we read, \"It shall be accepted for him,\n_to make atonement_ for him;\" but then, it is \"atonement,\" not\naccording to the depths and enormity of human guilt, but according to\nthe perfection of Christ's surrender of Himself to God, and the\nintensity of God's delight in Christ. This gives us the very loftiest\nidea of atonement. If I contemplate Christ as the sin-offering, I see\natonement made according to the claims of divine justice with respect\nto sin; but when I see atonement in the burnt-offering, it is\naccording to the measure of Christ's willingness and ability to\naccomplish the will of God, and according to the measure of God's\ncomplacency in Christ and His work. What a perfect atonement must that\nbe which is the fruit of Christ's devotion to God! Could there be any\nthing beyond this? Assuredly not. The burnt-offering aspect of\natonement is that about which the priestly household may well be\noccupied in the courts of the Lord's house forever.\n\n\"And he shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut it into his pieces.\"\nThe ceremonial act of \"flaying\" was peculiarly expressive. It was\nsimply the removing of the outward covering, in order that what was\n_within_ might be fully revealed. It was not sufficient that the\noffering should be outwardly \"without blemish,\" \"the hidden parts\"\nshould be all disclosed, in order that every sinew and every joint\nmight be seen. It was only in the case of the burnt-offering that this\naction was specially named. This is quite in character, and tends to\nset forth the depth of Christ's devotedness to the Father. It was no\nmere surface-work with Him. The more the secrets of His inner life\nwere disclosed--the more the depths of His being were explored, the\nmore clearly was it made manifest that pure devotion to the will of\nHis Father, and earnest desire for His glory, were the springs of\naction in the great Antitype of the burnt-offering. He was, most\nassuredly, a whole burnt-offering.\n\n\"And cut it into his pieces.\" This action presents a somewhat similar\ntruth to that taught in the \"sweet incense _beaten small_.\" (Lev.\nxvi.) The Holy Ghost delights to dwell upon the sweetness and\nfragrance of the sacrifice of Christ, not only as a whole, but also in\nall its minute details. Look at the burnt-offering as a whole, and you\nsee it without blemish: look at it in all its parts, and you see it to\nbe the same. Such was Christ; and as such He is shadowed forth in this\nimportant type.\n\n\"And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and\nlay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons,\nshall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood\nthat is on the fire which is upon the altar.\" This was a high position\nfor the priestly family. The burnt-offering was wholly offered to\nGod,--it was all burnt upon the altar.[2] Man did not partake of it;\nbut the sons of Aaron the priest (themselves being likewise priests)\nare here seen standing round the altar of God, to behold the flame of\nan acceptable sacrifice ascending to Him--an odor of sweet smell. This\nwas a high position--high communion--a high order of priestly\nservice--a striking type of the Church having fellowship with God, in\nreference to the perfect accomplishment of His will in the death of\nChrist. As convicted sinners, we gaze on the cross of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, and behold therein that which meets all our need. The cross,\nin this aspect of it, gives perfect peace to the conscience. But then,\nas priests, as purged worshipers, as members of the priestly family,\nwe can look at the cross in another light--even as the grand\nconsummation of Christ's holy purpose to carry out, even unto death,\nthe will of the Father. As convicted sinners, we stand at the brazen\naltar, and find peace through the blood of atonement; but as priests,\nwe stand there to behold and admire the completeness of that\nburnt-offering--the perfect surrender and presentation of the spotless\nOne to God.\n\n [2] It may be well, at this point, to inform the reader that the\n Hebrew word which is rendered \"burn\" in the case of the burnt-offering\n is wholly different from that which is used in the sin-offering. I\n shall, because of the peculiar interest of the subject, refer to a few\n of the passages in which each word occurs. The word used in the\n burnt-offering signifies \"incense,\" or to \"burn incense,\" and occurs\n in the following passages, in some one or other of its various\n inflections: Lev. vi. 15--\"And all the _frankincense_, ... and shall\n _burn_ it upon the altar;\" Deut. xxxiii. 10--\"They shall put _incense_\n before Thee, and whole _burnt_-sacrifice upon Thine altar;\" Exod. xxx.\n 1--\"And thou shalt make an altar to _burn incense_ upon;\" Ps. lxvi.\n 15--\"With the _incense_ of rams;\" Jer. xliv. 21--\"The _incense_ that\n ye _burned_ in the cities of Judah;\" Cant. iii. 16--\"Perfumed with\n myrrh and _frankincense_.\" Passages might be multiplied, but the above\n will suffice to show the use of the word which occurs in the\n burnt-offering.\n\n The Hebrew word which is rendered \"burn\" in connection with the\n sin-offering, signifies to burn in general, and occurs in the\n following passages: Gen. xl. 3--\"Let us make brick, and _burn_ them\n thoroughly.\" Lev. x. 16--\"And Moses diligently sought the goat of the\n _sin_-offering, and, behold, it was _burnt_.\" 2 Chron. xvi. 14--\"And\n they made a very great _burning_ for him.\"\n\n Thus, not only was the sin-offering burnt in a different place, but a\n different word is adopted by the Holy Ghost to express the burning of\n it. Now, we cannot imagine, for a moment, that this distinction is a\n mere interchange of words, the use of which is indifferent. I believe\n the wisdom of the Holy Ghost is as manifest in the use of the two\n words as it is in any other point of difference in the two offerings.\n The spiritual reader will attach the proper value to the above most\n interesting distinction.\n\nWe should have a very defective apprehension of the mystery of the\ncross were we only to see in it that which meets man's need as a\nsinner. There were depths in that mystery which only the mind of God\ncould fathom. It is therefore important to see that when the Holy\nGhost would furnish us with foreshadowings of the cross, He gives us,\nin the very first place, one which sets it forth in its aspect\nGodward. This alone would be sufficient to teach us that there are\nheights and depths in the doctrine of the cross which man never could\nreach. He may approach to \"that one well-spring of delight,\" and drink\nforever--he may satisfy the utmost longings of his spirit--he may\nexplore it with all the powers of the renewed nature; but, after all,\nthere is that in the cross which only God could know and appreciate.\nHence it is that the burnt-offering gets the first place. It typifies\nChrist's death as viewed and valued by God alone. And surely, we may\nsay, we could not have done without such a type as this; for not only\ndoes it give us the highest possible aspect of the death of Christ,\nbut it also gives us a most precious thought in reference to God's\npeculiar interest in that death. The very fact of His instituting a\ntype of Christ's death which was to be exclusively for Himself,\ncontains a volume of instruction for the spiritual mind.\n\nBut though neither man nor angel can ever fully sound the amazing\ndepths of the mystery of Christ's death, we can, at least, see some\nfeatures of it which would needs make it precious, beyond all thought,\nto the heart of God. From the cross, He reaps His richest harvest of\nglory. In no other way could He have been so glorified as by the death\nof Christ. In Christ's voluntary surrender of Himself to death, the\ndivine glory shines out in its fullest brightness; in it, too, the\nsolid foundation of all the divine counsels was laid. This is a most\ncomforting truth. Creation never could have furnished such a basis.\nMoreover, the cross furnishes a righteous channel through which divine\nlove can flow. And, finally, by the cross Satan is eternally\nconfounded, and \"principalities and powers made a show of openly.\"\nThese are glorious fruits produced by the cross; and, when we think of\nthem, we can see just reason why there should have been a type of the\ncross exclusively for God Himself, and also a reason why that type\nshould occupy the leading place--should stand at the very top of the\nlist. Again let me say, there would have been a grievous blank among\nthe types had the burnt-offering been lacking, and there would be a\ngrievous blank in the page of inspiration had the record of that type\nbeen withheld.\n\n\"But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water; and the priest\nshall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made\nby fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.\" This action rendered the\nsacrifice typically what Christ was essentially--pure--both inwardly\nand outwardly pure. There was the most perfect correspondence between\nChrist's inward motives and His outward conduct. The latter was the\nindex of the former. All tended to the one point, namely, the glory of\nGod. The members of His body perfectly obeyed and carried out the\ncounsels of His devoted heart--that heart which only beat for God, and\nfor His glory, in the salvation of men. Well, therefore, might the\npriest \"burn _all_ on the altar.\" It was all typically pure, and all\ndesigned only as food for the altar of God. Of some sacrifices the\npriest partook; of some, the offerer; but the burnt-offering was \"all\"\nconsumed on the altar. It was exclusively for God. The priests might\narrange the wood and the fire, and see the flame ascend (and a high\nand holy privilege it was so to do); but they did not eat of the\nsacrifice: God alone was the object of Christ in the burnt-offering\naspect of His death. We cannot be too simple in our apprehension of\nthis. From the moment that the unblemished male was voluntarily\npresented at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, until it\nwas reduced to ashes by the action of the fire, we discern in it\nChrist offering Himself, by the Eternal Spirit, without spot to God.\n\nThis makes the burnt-offering unspeakably precious to the soul. It\ngives us the most exalted view of Christ's work. In that work, God\nhad His own peculiar joy--a joy into which no created intelligence\ncould enter. This must never be lost sight of. It is unfolded in the\nburnt-offering, and confirmed by \"the law of the burnt-offering,\" to\nwhich we shall just refer.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Command Aaron and his sons,\nsaying, This is the law of the burnt-offering: It is the\nburnt-offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto\nthe morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the\npriest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he\nput upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed\nwith the burnt-offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the\naltar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments,\nand carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the\nfire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out:\nand the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the\nburnt-offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of\nthe peace-offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it\nshall never go out.'\" (Lev. vi. 8-13.) The fire on the altar consumed\nthe burnt-offering and the fat of the peace-offering. It was the apt\nexpression of divine holiness, which found in Christ and His perfect\nsacrifice a proper material on which to feed. That fire was never to\ngo out. There was to be the perpetual maintenance of that which set\nforth the action of divine holiness. Through the dark and silent\nwatches of the night, the fire blazed on the altar of God.\n\n\"And the priest shall put on his linen garment,\" etc. Here, the priest\ntakes, in type, the place of Christ, whose personal righteousness is\nset forth by the white linen garment. He having given Himself up to\nthe death of the cross in order to accomplish the will of God, has\nentered, in His own eternal righteousness, into heaven, bearing with\nHim the memorials of His finished work. The ashes declared the\ncompletion of the sacrifice, and God's acceptance thereof. Those ashes\nplaced beside the altar indicated that the fire had consumed the\nsacrifice--that it was not only a completed, but also an accepted,\nsacrifice. The ashes of the burnt-offering declared the acceptance of\nthe sacrifice: the ashes of the sin-offering declared the judgment of\nthe sin.\n\nMany of the points on which we have been dwelling will, with the\ndivine blessing, come before us with increasing clearness, fullness,\nprecision, and power as we proceed with the offerings. Each offering\nis, as it were, thrown into relief by being viewed in contrast with\nall the rest. All the offerings taken together give us a full view of\nChrist. They are like so many mirrors, arranged in such a manner as to\nreflect in various ways the figure of that true and only-perfect\nSacrifice. No one type could fully present Him. We needed to have Him\nreflected in life and in death--as a Man and as a Victim, Godward and\nusward; and we have Him thus in the offerings of Leviticus. God has\ngraciously met our need; and may He give us an enlarged capacity to\nenter into and enjoy His provision.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nWe now come to consider the meat-offering, which presents, in a very\ndistinct manner, \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" As the burnt-offering\ntypifies Christ in _death_, the meat-offering typifies Him in _life_.\nIn neither the one nor the other is there a question of sin-bearing.\nIn the burnt-offering, we see atonement, but no sin-bearing[3]--no\nimputation of sin--no outpoured wrath on account of sin. How can we\nknow this? Because it was all consumed on the altar. Had there been\naught of sin-bearing, it would have been consumed outside the camp.\n(Comp. Lev. iv. 11, 12, with Heb. xiii. 11.)\n\n [3] That is to say, sin-bearing is not prominent. Of course, where\n there is atonement, sin must be in question.\n\nBut in the meat-offering, there was not even a question of\nbloodshedding. We simply find in it a beauteous type of Christ as He\nlived and walked and served down here on this earth. This one fact is,\nof itself, sufficient to draw the spiritual mind to the close and\nprayerful consideration of this offering. The pure and perfect manhood\nof our blessed Lord is a theme which must command the attention of\nevery true Christian. It is to be feared that great looseness of\nthought prevails in reference to this holy mystery. The expressions\nwhich one sometimes hears and reads are sufficient to prove that the\nfundamental doctrine of incarnation is not laid hold of as the Word\npresents it. Such expressions may very probably proceed from\nmisapprehension as to the real nature of His relations, and as to the\ntrue character of His sufferings; but, from what cause soever they\narise, they should be judged in the light of holy Scripture, and\nrejected. Doubtless, many who make use of those expressions would\nrecoil, with just horror and indignation, from the real doctrine\ncontained in them were it put before them in its broad and true\ncharacters; and, for this reason, one should be sorry to attribute\nunsoundness as to fundamental truth, where it may merely be inaccuracy\nof statement.\n\nThere is, however, one consideration which should weigh heavily in the\nestimation of every Christian, and that is, the vital nature of the\ndoctrine of Christ's humanity. It lies at the very foundation of\nChristianity; and, for this reason, Satan has diligently sought, from\nthe beginning, to lead people astray in reference to it. Almost all\nthe leading errors which have found their way into the professing\nchurch disclose the satanic purpose to undermine the truth as to the\nPerson of Christ. And even when earnest, godly men have sought to\ncombat those errors, they have, in many cases, plunged into errors on\nthe opposite side. Hence, therefore, the need of close adherence to\nthe veritable words which the Holy Ghost has made use of in unfolding\nthis profound and most sacred mystery. Indeed, I believe that, in\nevery case, subjection to the authority of holy Scripture, and the\nenergy of the divine life in the soul, will prove effectual safeguards\nagainst every complexion of error. It does not require high\ntheological attainments to enable a soul to keep clear of error with\nrespect to the doctrine of Christ. If only the word of Christ be\ndwelling richly, and \"the Spirit of Christ\" be in energy, in the soul,\nthere will be no room for Satan to thrust in his dark and horrible\nsuggestions. If the heart be delighting in the Christ which Scripture\nunfolds, it will assuredly shrink from the false Christs which Satan\nwould introduce. If we are feeding upon God's reality, we shall\nunhesitatingly reject Satan's counterfeit. This is the best possible\nway in which to escape the entanglements of error, in every shape and\ncharacter. \"The sheep _hear His voice_, and ... follow Him; for they\n_know His voice_. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee\nfrom him; for _they know not the voice of strangers_.\" (John x. 3-5.)\nIt is not, by any means, needful to be acquainted with the voice of a\nstranger in order to turn away from it: all we require is to know the\nvoice of \"the good Shepherd.\" This will secure us against the\nensnaring influence of every strange sound. While, therefore, I feel\ncalled upon to warn the reader against strange sounds in reference to\nthe divine mystery of Christ's humanity, I do not deem it needful to\ndiscuss such sounds, but would rather seek, through grace, to arm him\nagainst them by unfolding the doctrine of Scripture on the subject.\n\nThere are few things in which we exhibit more failure than in\nmaintaining vigorous communion with the perfect manhood of the Lord\nJesus Christ. Hence it is that we suffer so much from vacancy,\nbarrenness, restlessness, and wandering. Did we but enter with a more\nartless faith into the truth that there is a real Man at the right\nhand of the Majesty in the heavens--One whose sympathy is perfect,\nwhose love is fathomless, whose power is omnipotent, whose wisdom is\ninfinite, whose resources are exhaustless, whose riches are\nunsearchable, whose ear is open to our every breathing, whose hand is\nopen to our every need, whose heart is full of unspeakable love and\ntenderness towards us--how much more happy and elevated we should be,\nand how much more independent of creature streams, through what\nchannel soever they may flow! There is nothing the heart can crave\nwhich we have not in Jesus. Does it long for genuine sympathy? Where\ncan it find it, save in Him who could mingle His tears with those of\nthe bereaved sisters of Bethany? Does it desire the enjoyment of\nsincere affection? It can only find it in that heart which told forth\nits love in drops of blood. Does it seek the protection of real power?\nIt has but to look to Him who made the world. Does it feel the need of\nunerring wisdom to guide? Let it betake itself to Him who is wisdom\npersonified, and \"who of God is made unto us wisdom.\" In one word, we\nhave all in Christ. The divine mind and the divine affections have\nfound a perfect object in \"the Man Christ Jesus;\" and surely, if there\nis that in the Person of Christ which can perfectly satisfy God, there\nis that which ought to satisfy us, and which will satisfy us in\nproportion as, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, we walk in communion\nwith God.\n\nThe Lord Jesus Christ was the only perfect Man that ever trod this\nearth. He was all perfect--perfect in thought, perfect in word,\nperfect in action. In Him every moral quality met in divine and\ntherefore perfect proportion. No one feature preponderated. In Him\nwere exquisitely blended a majesty which overawed, and a gentleness\nwhich gave perfect ease in His presence. The scribes and the Pharisees\nmet His withering rebuke, while the poor Samaritan and \"the woman that\nwas a sinner\" found themselves unaccountably, yet irresistibly,\nattracted to Him. No one feature displaced another, for all was in\nfair and comely proportion. This may be traced in every scene of His\nperfect life. He could say, in reference to five thousand hungry\npeople, \"Give ye them to eat;\" and when they were filled, He could\nsay, \"Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.\" The\nbenevolence and the economy are both perfect, and neither interferes\nwith the other: each shines in its own proper sphere. He could not\nsend unsatisfied hunger away; neither could He suffer a single\nfragment of God's creatures to be wasted. He would meet, with a full\nand liberal hand, the need of the human family, and when that was\ndone, He would carefully treasure up every atom. The self-same hand\nthat was widely open to every form of human need was firmly closed\nagainst all prodigality. There was nothing niggardly nor yet\nextravagant in the character of the perfect--the heavenly Man.\n\nWhat a lesson for us! How often, with us, does benevolence resolve\nitself into an unwarrantable profusion! and, on the other hand, how\noften is our economy marred by the exhibition of a miserly spirit! At\ntimes, too, our niggard hearts refuse to open themselves to the full\nextent of the need which presents itself before us; while, at other\ntimes, we squander, through a wanton extravagance, that which might\nsatisfy many a needy fellow-creature. Oh, my reader, let us carefully\nstudy the divine picture set before us in the life of \"the Man Christ\nJesus.\" How refreshing and strengthening to \"the inward man\" to be\noccupied with Him who was perfect in all His ways, and who \"in all\nthings must have the pre-eminence\"!\n\nSee Him in the garden of Gethsemane. There, He kneels in the profound\ndepths of a humility which none but Himself could exhibit; but yet\nbefore the traitor's band He exhibits a self-possession and majesty\nwhich cause them to go backward and fall to the ground. His deportment\nbefore God is prostration; before His judges and accusers, unbending\ndignity. All is perfect. The self-emptiness and the self-possession,\nthe prostration and the dignity, are all divine.\n\nSo, also, when we contemplate the beauteous combination of His divine\nand human relations, the same perfectness is observable. He could say,\n\"How was it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My\nFather's business?\" And, at the same time, He could go down to\nNazareth, and there set an example of perfect subjection to parental\nauthority. (See Luke ii. 49-51.) He could say to His mother, \"Woman,\nwhat have I to do with thee?\" And yet, when passing through the\nunutterable agony of the cross, He could tenderly commit that mother\nto the care of the beloved disciple. In the former case, He separated\nHimself, in the spirit of perfect Nazariteship, to accomplish His\nFather's will; while in the latter, He gave expression to the tender\nfeelings of the perfect human heart. The devotion of the Nazarite and\nthe affection of the Man were both perfect. Neither was permitted to\ninterfere with the other: each shone with undimmed lustre in its\nproper sphere.\n\nNow, the shadow of this perfect Man passes before us in the \"fine\nflour\" which formed the basis of the meat-offering. There was not so\nmuch as a single coarse grain. There was nothing uneven--nothing\nunequal--nothing rough to the touch. No matter what pressure came from\nwithout, there was always an even surface. He was never ruffled by any\ncircumstance or set of circumstances. He never had to retrace a step\nor recall a word. Come what might, He always met it in that perfect\nevenness which is so strikingly typified by the \"fine flour.\"\n\nIn all these things, it is needless to say, He stands in marked\ncontrast with His most honored and devoted servants. For example,\nMoses, though \"the meekest man in all the earth,\" yet \"spoke\nunadvisedly with his lips.\" In Peter, we find a zeal and an energy\nwhich at times proved too much for the occasion; and, again, a\ncowardice which shrank from the place of testimony and reproach. There\nwas the assertion of a devotedness which, when the time for action\narrived, was not forthcoming. John, who breathed so much of the\natmosphere of the immediate presence of Christ, exhibited, at times, a\nsectarian and an intolerant spirit. In Paul, the most devoted of\nservants, we observe considerable unevenness. He uttered words to the\nhigh-priest which he had to recall: he sent a letter to the\nCorinthians of which at first he repented and afterwards repented not.\nIn all, we find some flaw, save in Him who is \"the fairest among ten\nthousand, and altogether lovely.\"\n\nIn the examination of the meat-offering, it will give clearness and\nsimplicity to our thoughts to consider, first, the materials of which\nit was composed; secondly, the various forms in which it was\npresented; and, thirdly, the persons who partook of it.\n\nAs to the materials, the \"fine flour\" may be regarded as the basis of\nthe offering; and in it we have a type of Christ's humanity, wherein\nevery perfection met. Every virtue was there, and ready for effectual\naction in due season. The Holy Ghost delights to unfold the glories of\nChrist's Person, to set Him forth in all His peerless excellence, to\nplace Him before us in contrast with all beside. He contrasts Him with\nAdam, even in his very best and highest state; as we read, \"The first\nman is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is the Lord from heaven.\"\n(1 Cor. xv. 47.) The first Adam, even in his unfallen condition, was\n\"of the earth;\" but the second Man was \"the Lord from heaven.\"\n\nThe \"oil,\" in the meat-offering, is a type of the Holy Ghost. But\ninasmuch as the oil is applied in a twofold way, so we have the Holy\nGhost presented in a double aspect, in _connection_ with the\n_incarnation_ of the Son. The fine flour was \"_mingled_\" with oil, and\nthere was oil \"_poured_\" upon it. Such was the type; and in the\nAntitype, we see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ first \"_conceived_,\"\nand then \"_anointed_,\" by the Holy Ghost. (Comp. Matt. i. 18-23 with\nchap. iii. 16.) This is divine! The accuracy, which is here so\napparent, draws forth the soul's admiration. It is one and the same\nSpirit which records the ingredients of the type, and gives us the\nfacts in the Antitype. The One who has detailed for us, with such\namazing precision, the types and shadows of the book of Leviticus, has\nalso given us the glorious subject thereof in the gospel narratives.\nThe same Spirit breathes through the pages of the Old and those of the\nNew Testament, and enables us to see how exactly the one corresponds\nwith the other.\n\nThe conception of Christ's humanity by the Holy Ghost, in the womb of\nthe virgin, unfolds one of the most profound mysteries which can\npossibly engage the attention of the renewed mind. It is most fully\nset forth in Luke's gospel; and this is entirely characteristic,\ninasmuch as, throughout that gospel, it would seem to be the special\nobject of the Holy Ghost to unfold, in His own divinely touching\nmanner, \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" In Matthew, we have \"the Son of\nAbraham--the Son of David;\" in Mark, we have the divine Servant--the\nheavenly Workman; in John, we have \"the Son of God\"--the Eternal\nWord--the Life--the Light, by whom all things were made; but the great\ntheme of the Holy Ghost in Luke is \"the Son of Man.\"\n\nWhen the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary the dignity which was\nabout to be conferred upon her, in connection with the great work of\nincarnation, she, not in a spirit of scepticism, but of honest\nignorance, inquired, \"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?\" It\nmanifestly seemed to her that the birth of this glorious Person who\nwas about to appear should be according to the ordinary principles of\ngeneration; and this her thought is made the occasion, in the\nexceeding goodness of God, of developing much valuable light in\nreference to the cardinal truth of incarnation. The angel's reply to\nthe virgin's question is unspeakably interesting, and cannot be too\nclosely considered. \"And the angel answered and said unto her, 'The\nHoly Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall\novershadow thee; _therefore_ also that _holy Thing_ which shall be\nborn of thee shall be called the Son of God.\" (Luke i. 35.)\n\nFrom this magnificent passage, we learn that the human body into which\nthe Eternal Son entered was formed by \"the power of the Highest.\" \"A\nbody hast _Thou_ prepared Me.\" (Comp. Ps. xl. 6 with Heb. x. 5.) It\nwas a real human body--real \"flesh and blood.\" There is no possible\nfoundation here on which gnosticism or mysticism can base its vapid\nand worthless theories,--no warrant for the cold abstractions of the\nformer, or the misty fancies of the latter. All is deep, solid, and\ndivine reality: the very thing which our hearts needed--the very thing\nwhich God has given. The early promise had declared that \"the seed of\nthe woman shall bruise the serpent's head,\" and none but a real man\ncould accomplish this prediction--one whose nature was as real as it\nwas pure and incorruptible. \"Thou shalt conceive in thy womb,\" said\nthe angelic messenger, \"and bring forth a Son.\"[4] And then, lest\nthere should be any room for an error in reference to the mode of this\nconception, he adds such words as prove, unanswerably, that the \"flesh\nand blood\" of which the Eternal Son \"took part,\" while absolutely\nreal, was absolutely incapable of receiving, of retaining, or of\ncommunicating a single taint. The humanity of the Lord Jesus was\nemphatically \"_that holy Thing_.\" And inasmuch as it was wholly\nwithout taint, it was wholly without a seed of mortality. We cannot\nthink of mortality, save in connection with sin; and Christ's humanity\nhad naught to do with sin, either personally or relatively. Sin was\nimputed to Him on the cross, where He was \"made sin for us.\" But the\nmeat-offering is not the type of Christ as a sin-bearer. It\nforeshadows Him in His perfect life here below--a life in which He\nsuffered, no doubt, but not as a sin-bearer--not as a substitute--not\nat the hand of God. Let this be distinctly noted. Neither in the\nburnt-offering nor in the meat-offering have we Christ as a\nsin-bearer. In the latter, we see Him _living_; and in the former, we\nsee Him _dying_; but in neither is there a question of the imputation\nof sin, nor of enduring the wrath of God on account of sin. In short,\nto present Christ as the sinner's substitute any where else save on\nthe cross, is to rob His life of all its divine beauty and excellency,\nand to displace the cross altogether. Moreover, it would involve the\ntypes of Leviticus in hopeless confusion.\n\n [4] \"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His\n Son, made of a woman, made under the law.\" (\u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd \u03b5\u03ba\n \u03b3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2, \u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd \u03c5\u03c0\u03bf \u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd.) This is a most\n important passage, inasmuch as it sets forth our blessed Lord as Son\n of God and Son of Man.--\"God sent forth _His_ Son, made _of a woman_.\"\n Precious testimony!\n\nI would, at this point, solemnly admonish my reader, that he cannot be\ntoo jealous in reference to the vital truth of the Person and the\nrelations of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there be error as to this,\nthere is no security as to any thing. God cannot give the sanction of\nHis presence to aught that has not this truth for its foundation. The\nPerson of Christ is the living--the divine centre round which the Holy\nGhost carries on all His operations. Let slip the truth as to Him, and\nyou are like a vessel broken from its moorings, and carried, without\nrudder or compass, over the wild watery waste, and in imminent danger\nof being dashed to fragments upon the rocks of Arianism, Infidelity,\nor Atheism. Question the eternal Sonship of Christ, question His\ndeity, question His unspotted humanity, and you have opened the\nfloodgate for a desolating tide of deadly error to rush in. Let no one\nimagine, for a moment, that this is a mere matter to be discussed by\nlearned theologians--a curious question--a recondite mystery--a point\nabout which we may lawfully differ. No; it is a vital, fundamental\ntruth, to be held in the power of the Holy Ghost, and maintained at\nthe expense of all beside--yea, to be confessed under all\ncircumstances, whatever may be the consequences.\n\nWhat we want, is, simply to receive into our hearts, by the grace of\nthe Holy Spirit, the Father's revelation of the Son, and then our\nsouls shall be effectually preserved from the snares of the enemy, let\nthem take what shape they may. He may speciously cover the trap of\nArianism or Socinianism with the grass and leaves of a most plausible\nand attractive system of interpretation; but directly the devoted\nheart discovers what this system attempts to make of the blessed One\nto whom it owes every thing, and where it attempts to put Him, it\nfinds but little difficulty in sending it back to where it manifestly\ncame from. We can well afford to do without human theories; but we can\nnever do without Christ--the Christ of God--the Christ of God's\naffections--the Christ of God's counsels--the Christ of God's word.\n\nThe Lord Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son--a distinct Person in the\nglorious Trinity--God manifest in the flesh--God over all, blessed\nforever, assumed a body which was inherently and divinely pure, holy,\nand without the possibility of taint--absolutely free from every seed\nor principle of sin and mortality. Such was the humanity of Christ,\nthat He could at any moment, so far as He was personally concerned,\nhave returned to heaven, from whence He had come and to which He\nbelonged. I speak not here of the eternal counsels of redeeming love,\nor of the unswerving love of the heart of Jesus--His love to God--His\nlove to God's elect, or of the work that was needful to ratify God's\neverlasting covenant with the seed of Abraham and with the whole\ncreation. Christ's own words teach us that \"it behoved Him to suffer,\nand to rise from the dead the third day.\" (Luke xxiv. 46.) It was\nnecessary that He should suffer, in order to the full manifestation\nand perfect accomplishment of the great mystery of redemption. It was\nHis gracious purpose to \"bring many sons unto glory.\" He would not\n\"abide alone,\" and therefore He, as the \"corn of wheat,\" should \"fall\ninto the ground and die.\" The more fully we enter into the _truth_ of\nHis Person, the more fully do we apprehend the _grace_ of His work.\n\nWhen the apostle speaks of Christ's being \"made perfect through\nsuffering,\" it is as \"the Captain of our salvation\" that he\ncontemplates Him, and not as the Eternal Son, who, as regards His own\nabstract Person and nature, was divinely perfect, and could not\npossibly have aught added to Him. So, also, when He Himself says,\n\"Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and\nthe third day I shall be perfected\" (Luke xiii. 32.), He refers to His\nbeing perfected, in the power of resurrection, as the Accomplisher of\nthe entire work of redemption. So far as He was personally concerned,\nHe could say, even on His way forth from the garden of Gethsemane,\n\"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall\npresently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then\nshall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?\" (Matt. xxvi.\n53, 54.)\n\nIt is well that the soul be clear as to this--well to have a divine\nsense of the harmony which exists between those scriptures which\npresent Christ in the essential dignity of His Person and the divine\npurity of His nature, and those which present Him in His relation with\nHis people and as accomplishing the great work of redemption. At times\nwe find both these things combined in the same passage, as in Heb. v.\n8, 9,--\"Though _He were a Son_, yet learned He obedience by the things\nwhich He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of\neternal salvation to all them that obey Him.\" We must, however, bear\nin mind that not one of those relations into which Christ voluntarily\nentered--whether as the expression of divine love to a lost world, or\nthe Servant of the divine counsels--not one of these could possibly\ninterfere with the essential purity, excellency, and glory of His\nPerson. \"The Holy Ghost came upon\" the virgin, and \"the power of the\nHighest overshadowed her;\" and \"therefore that holy Thing which was\nborn of her was called the Son of God.\" Most magnificent unfolding,\nthis, of the deep secret of Christ's pure and perfect humanity--the\ngreat Antitype of the \"_fine flour mingled with oil_\"!\n\nAnd here let me observe, that between humanity as seen in the Lord\nJesus Christ and humanity as seen in us there could be no union. That\nwhich is pure could never coalesce with that which is impure. That\nwhich is incorruptible could never unite with that which is\ncorruptible. The spiritual and the carnal--the heavenly and the\nearthly--could never combine. Hence, therefore, it follows that\nincarnation was not, as some have attempted to teach, Christ's taking\nour fallen nature into union with Himself. If He could have done this,\nthere would have been no need of the death of the cross. He needed\nnot, in that case, to feel \"straitened\" until the baptism was\naccomplished--the corn of wheat did not need to \"fall into the ground\nand die.\" This is a point of grave moment. Let the spiritual mind\nponder it deeply. Christ could not possibly take sinful humanity into\nunion with Himself. Hear what the angel saith to Joseph, in the first\nchapter of Matthew's gospel,--\"Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to\ntake unto thee Mary thy wife; for _that which is conceived in her is\nof the Holy Ghost_.\" See how Joseph's natural sensibilities, as well\nas Mary's pious ignorance, are made the occasion of a fuller\nunfolding of the holy mystery of Christ's humanity, and also of\nguarding that humanity against all the blasphemous attacks of the\nenemy.\n\nHow, then, is it that believers are united to Christ? Is it in\nincarnation, or resurrection? In resurrection, assuredly. How is this\nproved? \"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it\nabideth _alone_.\" (John xii. 24.) At this side of death, there could\nbe no union between Christ and His people. It is in the power of a new\nlife that believers are united to Christ. They were dead _in sin_, and\nHe, in perfect grace, came down and (though Himself pure and sinless)\nwas \"made sin,\" \"died _unto sin_,\" put it away, rose triumphant over\nit and all pertaining to it, and, in resurrection, became the Head of\na new race. Adam was the head of the old creation, which fell with\nhim. Christ, by dying, put Himself under the full weight of His\npeople's condition, and having perfectly met all that was against\nthem, rose victorious over all, and carried them with Him into the new\ncreation, of which He is the glorious Head and Centre. Hence, we read,\n\"He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.\" (1 Cor. vi. 17.) \"But\nGod, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,\neven when were _dead in sins_, hath quickened us _together with\nChrist_, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and\nmade us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.\" (Eph. ii.\n4-6.) \"For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His\nbones.\" (Eph. v. 30.) \"And you, being _dead in your sins_ and the\nuncircumcision of your flesh, _hath He quickened together with Him_,\nhaving forgiven you all trespasses.\" (Col. ii. 13.)\n\nPassages might be multiplied, but the above are amply sufficient to\nprove that it was not in incarnation, but in death, that Christ took a\nposition in which His people could be \"quickened together with Him.\"\nDoes this seem unimportant to the reader? Let him examine it in the\nlight of Scripture. Let him weigh all the consequences. Let him view\nit in its bearing upon Christ's Person, upon His life, upon His death,\nupon our condition by nature in the old creation, and our place\nthrough mercy in the new. Let him consider it thus, and I feel\npersuaded he will no longer regard it as a light matter. Of one thing,\nat least, he may rest assured, that the writer of these pages would\nnot pen a single line to prove this point did he not consider it to be\nfraught with the most momentous results. The whole of divine\nrevelation so hangs together--is so adjusted by the hand of the Holy\nGhost--is so consistent in all its parts, that if one truth be\ndisturbed, the entire arch is injured. This consideration should\nsuffice to produce, in the mind of every Christian, a holy caution,\nlest, by some rude touch, he mar the beauteous superstructure. Every\nstone must be left in its divinely appointed place; and,\nunquestionably, the truth as to Christ's Person is the key-stone of\nthe arch.\n\nHaving thus endeavored to unfold the truth typified by the \"fine flour\n_mingled_ with oil,\" we may remark another point of much interest in\nthe expression, \"He shall _pour_ oil upon it.\" In this we have a type\nof the anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost. The body\nof the Lord Jesus was not merely formed mysteriously by the Holy\nGhost, but that pure and holy vessel was also anointed for service by\nthe same power. \"And it came to pass when all the people were\nbaptized, and Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was\nopened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon\nHim, and there was a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art My beloved\nSon; in Thee I am well pleased.\" (Luke iii. 21, 22.)\n\nThe anointing of the Lord Jesus by the Holy Ghost previous to His\nentrance upon His public ministry is of immense practical importance\nto every one who really desires to be a true and an effectual servant\nof God. Though conceived, as to His manhood, by the Holy Ghost;\nthough, in His own proper Person, \"God manifest in the flesh;\" though\nembodying in Himself all the fullness of the Godhead; yet, be it well\nobserved, when coming forth as man to do the will of God on the earth,\nwhatever that will might be--whether preaching the gospel, teaching in\nthe synagogues, healing the sick, cleansing the leper, casting out\ndevils, feeding the hungry, or raising the dead--He did all by the\nHoly Ghost. That holy and heavenly vessel in which God the Son was\npleased to appear in this world was formed, filled, anointed, and led\nby the Holy Ghost.\n\nWhat a deep and holy lesson for us! A most needful and salutary\nlesson! How prone are we to run unsent! How prone to act in the mere\nenergy of the flesh! How much of that which looks like ministry is\nonly the restless and unhallowed activity of a nature which has never\nbeen measured and judged in the divine presence! Truly, we need to\ncontemplate more closely our divine \"meat-offering\"--to understand\nmore fully the meaning of the \"fine flour anointed with oil.\" We need\nto meditate more deeply upon Christ Himself, who, though possessing,\nin His own Person, divine power, nevertheless, did all His work,\nwrought all His miracles, and, finally, \"offered Himself, without spot\nto God, by the eternal Spirit.\" He could say, \"I by the Spirit of God\ncast out devils.\"\n\nNothing is of any value save that which is wrought by the power of the\nHoly Ghost. A man may write; but if his pen be not guided and used by\nthe Holy Ghost, his lines will produce no permanent results. A man may\nspeak; but if his lips be not anointed by the Holy Ghost, his word\nwill not take permanent root. This is a solemn consideration, and if\nproperly weighed, would lead to much watchfulness over ourselves, and\nmuch earnest dependence upon the Holy Ghost. What we need is thorough\nself-emptiness, so that there may be room left for the Spirit to act\nby us. It is impossible that a man full of himself can be the vessel\nof the Holy Ghost. Such an one must first be emptied of himself, and\nthen the Spirit can use him. When we contemplate the Person and\nministry of the Lord Jesus, we see how that in every scene and\ncircumstance He acted by the direct power of the Holy Ghost. Having\ntaken His place as man down here, He showed that man should not only\nlive by the Word, but act by the Spirit of God. Even though, as man,\nHis will was perfect--His thoughts, His words, His acts, all\nperfect--yet He would not act save by the direct authority of the\nWord, and by the direct power of the Holy Ghost. Oh that in this, as\nin every thing else, we could more closely, more faithfully, follow in\nHis steps! Then, indeed, would our ministry be more effective, our\ntestimony more fruitful, our whole course more entirely to the glory\nof God.\n\nThe next ingredient in the meat-offering demanding our consideration\nis \"the frankincense.\" As has been remarked, the \"fine flour\" was the\nbasis of the offering. The \"oil\" and \"frankincense\" were the two\nleading adjuncts; and, truly, the connection between these two latter\nis most instructive. The \"oil\" typifies the _power_ of Christ's\nministry; the \"frankincense\" typifies the _object_ thereof. The former\nteaches us that He did every thing by the Spirit of God; the latter,\nthat He did every thing to the glory of God. The frankincense presents\nthat in the life of Christ which was exclusively for God. This is\nevident from the second verse--\"And he shall bring it [the\nmeat-offering] to Aaron's sons, the priests: and he shall take\nthereout his handful of flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with\n_all the frankincense_ thereof; and the priest shall burn the\nmemorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a\nsweet savor unto the Lord.\" Thus was it in the true meat-offering--the\nMan Christ Jesus. There was that in His blessed life which was\nexclusively for God. Every thought, every word, every look, every act\nof His emitted a fragrance which went up immediately to God. And as,\nin the type, it was the \"fire of the altar\" that drew forth the sweet\nodor of the frankincense; so, in the Antitype, the more He was\n\"tried,\" in all the scenes and circumstances of His blessed life, the\nmore fully was it manifested that, in His manhood, there was nothing\nthat could not ascend as an odor of a sweet smell to the throne of\nGod. If in the burnt-offering we behold Christ \"offering Himself\nwithout spot to God,\" in the meat-offering we behold Him presenting\nall the intrinsic excellence and perfect actings of His human nature\nto God. A perfect, a self-emptied, an obedient Man on the earth doing\nthe will of God, acting by the authority of the Word, and by the power\nof the Spirit, had a sweet odor which could only be for divine\nacceptance. The fact that \"all the frankincense\" was consumed on the\naltar, fixes its import in the simplest manner.\n\nIt now only remains for us to consider an ingredient which was an\ninseparable adjunct of the meat-offering, namely, \"_salt_.\"--\"And\nevery oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt;\nneither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be\nlacking from thy meat-offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt\noffer salt.\" The expression, \"Salt of the covenant,\" sets forth the\nenduring character of that covenant. God Himself has so ordained it,\nin all things, that naught can ever alter it--no influence can ever\ncorrupt it. In a spiritual and practical point of view, it is\nimpossible to overestimate the value of such an ingredient. \"Let your\nconversation be always with grace, seasoned with _salt_.\" The whole\nconversation of the Perfect Man exhibited the power of this principle.\nHis words were not merely words of grace, but words of pungent\npower--words divinely adapted to preserve from all taint and\ncorrupting influence. He never uttered a word which was not redolent\nwith \"frankincense,\" and \"seasoned with salt.\" The former was most\nacceptable to God; the latter, most profitable for man.\n\nSometimes, alas! man's corrupt heart and vitiated taste could not\ntolerate the pungency of the divinely-salted meat-offering. Witness,\nfor example, the scene in the synagogue of Nazareth. (Luke iv. 16-29.)\nThe people could \"bear Him witness, and wonder at the _gracious_ words\nwhich proceeded out of His mouth;\" but when He proceeded to season\nthose words with _salt_, which was so needful in order to preserve\nthem from the corrupting influence of their national pride, they would\nfain have cast Him over the brow of the hill whereon their city was\nbuilt.\n\nSo, also, in Luke xiv, when His words of \"grace\" had drawn \"great\nmultitudes\" after Him, He instantly throws in the \"salt,\" by setting\nforth, in words of holy faithfulness, the sure results of following\nHim. \"Come, for all things are now ready,\"--here was the \"grace;\" but\nthen, \"Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be My\ndisciple,\"--here was the \"salt.\" Grace is attractive; but \"salt is\ngood.\" Gracious discourse may be popular; but salted discourse never\nwill. The pure gospel of the grace of God may, at certain times, and\nunder certain circumstances, be run after by \"the multitude\" for\nawhile; but when the \"salt\" of a fervid and faithful application is\nintroduced, it will soon thin the benches of all save such as are\nbrought under the power of the Word.\n\nHaving thus considered the ingredients which composed the\nmeat-offering, we shall now refer to those which were excluded from\nit.\n\nThe first of these was \"leaven.\" \"No meat-offering, which ye shall\nbring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven.\" This ingredient is\nused throughout the inspired volume, without so much as a single\nexception, as the symbol of _evil_. In chap. xxiii. of our book, which\nwill be noticed in due course, we find leaven admitted in the two\nloaves which were offered on the day of Pentecost; but from the\nmeat-offering leaven was most sedulously excluded. There was to be\nnothing sour--nothing that would puff up--nothing expressive of evil\nin that which typified \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" In Him, there could be\nnothing savoring of nature's sourness, nothing turgid--nothing\ninflated: all was pure, solid, and genuine. His word might, at times,\ncut to the quick; but it was never sour. His style never rose above\nthe occasion. His deportment ever exhibited the deep reality of one\nwalking in the immediate presence of God.\n\nIn those who bear the name of Jesus, we know, too well, alas! how\nleaven shows itself in all its properties and effects. There has been\nbut one untainted sheaf of human fruit--but one perfectly unleavened\nmeat-offering; and, blessed be God, that one is ours--ours to feed\nupon in the sanctuary of the divine presence, in fellowship with God.\nNo exercise can be more truly edifying and refreshing for the renewed\nmind than to dwell upon the unleavened perfectness of Christ's\nhumanity--to contemplate the life and ministry of One who was\nabsolutely and essentially unleavened. In all His springs of thought,\naffection, desire, and imagination, there was not so much as a\nparticle of leaven. He was the sinless, spotless, perfect Man. And the\nmore we are enabled, by the power of the Spirit, to enter into all\nthis, the deeper will be our experience of the grace which led this\nperfect One to place Himself under the full consequences of His\npeople's sins, as He did when He hung upon the cross. This thought,\nhowever, belongs entirely to the sin-offering aspect of our blessed\nLord. In the meat-offering, sin is not in question. It is not the type\nof a sin-bearer, but of a real, perfect, unblemished Man, conceived\nand anointed by the Holy Ghost, possessing an unleavened nature, and\nliving an unleavened life down here, emitting ever Godward the\nfragrance of His own personal excellency, and maintaining amongst men\na deportment characterized by \"grace seasoned with salt.\"\n\nBut there was another ingredient, as positively excluded from the\nmeat-offering as \"leaven,\" and that was \"honey.\"--\"For ye shall burn\nno leaven, _nor any honey_, in any offering of the Lord made by fire.\"\n(Ver. 11.) Now, as \"leaven\" is the expression of that which is\npositively and palpably _evil_ in nature, we may regard \"honey\" as the\nsignificant symbol of that which is apparently _sweet_ and attractive.\nBoth are disallowed of God, both were carefully excluded from the\nmeat-offering, both were unfit for the altar. Men may undertake, like\nSaul, to distinguish between what is \"vile and refuse\" and what is\nnot; but the judgment of God ranks the delicate Agag with the vilest\nof the sons of Amalek. No doubt, there are some good moral qualities\nin man, which must be taken for what they are worth. \"Hast thou found\n_honey_, eat so much as is convenient;\" but, be it remembered, it\nfound no place in the meat-offering, nor in its Antitype. There was\nthe fullness of the Holy Ghost, there was the fragrant odor of the\nfrankincense, there was the preservative virtue of \"the salt of the\ncovenant,\"--all these things accompanied the \"fine flour\" in the\nPerson of the true \"Meat-offering,\" but \"no honey.\"\n\nWhat a lesson for the heart is here! yea, what a volume of wholesome\ninstruction! The blessed Lord Jesus knew how to give nature and its\nrelationships their proper place: He knew how much \"honey\" was\n\"convenient.\" He could say to His mother, \"Wist ye not that I must be\nabout My Father's business?\" and yet He could say, again, to the\nbeloved disciple, \"Behold thy mother.\" In other words, nature's claims\nwere never allowed to interfere with the presentation to God of all\nthe energies of Christ's perfect manhood. Mary, and others too, might\nhave thought that her human relation to the blessed One gave her some\npeculiar claim or influence, on merely natural grounds. \"There came,\nthen, His brethren [\"after the flesh\"] and His mother, and standing\nwithout, sent unto Him, calling Him. And the multitude sat about Him;\nand they said unto Him, 'Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren without\nseek for Thee.'\" What was the reply of the true Meat-offering? Did He\nat once abandon His work, in order to respond to nature's call? By no\nmeans. Had He done so, it would have been to mingle \"honey\" with the\nmeat-offering, which could not be. The honey was faithfully excluded\non this as on every occasion when God's claims were to be attended to,\nand instead thereof, the power of the Spirit, the odor of the\n\"frankincense,\" and the virtues of the \"salt\" were blessedly\nexhibited. \"And he answered them, saying, 'Who is My mother, or My\nbrethren?' And He looked round about on them which sat about Him, and\nsaid, 'Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the\nwill of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.'\"[5]\n(Mark iii. 31-35.)\n\n(Note, next page.)\n\n [5] How important to see, in the above beautiful passage, that doing\n God's will brings the soul into a relationship with Christ of which\n His brethren according to the flesh knew nothing, on merely natural\n grounds! It was as true with respect to those brethren as any one else\n that \"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\"\n Mary would not have been saved by the mere fact of her being the\n mother of Jesus. She needed personal faith in Christ as much as any\n other member of Adam's fallen family: she needed to pass, by being\n born again, out of the old creation into the new. It was by treasuring\n up Christ's words in her heart that this blessed woman was saved. No\n doubt she was \"highly favored\" in being chosen as a vessel to such a\n holy office; but then, as a lost sinner, she needed to \"rejoice in God\n her Saviour,\" like any one else. She stands on the same platform, is\n washed in the same blood, clothed in the same righteousness, and will\n sing the same song as all the rest of God's redeemed.\n\n This simple fact will give additional force and clearness to a point\n already stated, namely, that incarnation was not Christ's taking our\n nature into union with Himself. This truth should be carefully\n pondered. It is fully brought out in 2 Cor. v.--\"For the love of\n Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for\n all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which\n live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which\n died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man\n after the flesh; yea, _though we have known Christ after the flesh,\n yet now henceforth know we Him no more_. Therefore if any man be _in\n Christ_, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all\n things are become new.\" (Ver. 14-17.)\n\nThere are few things which the servant of Christ finds more difficult\nthan to adjust, with spiritual accuracy, the claims of natural\nrelationship, so as not to suffer them to interfere with the claims of\nthe Master. In the case of our blessed Lord, as we know, the\nadjustment was divine. In our case, it often happens that divinely\nrecognized duties are openly neglected for what we imagine to be the\nservice of Christ,--the doctrine of God is constantly sacrificed to\nthe apparent work of the gospel. Now, it is well to remember that true\ndevotedness always starts from a point within which all godly claims\nare fully secured. If I hold a situation which demands my services\nfrom ten till four every day, I have no right to go out to visit or\npreach during those hours. If I am in business, I am bound to maintain\nthe integrity of that business in a godly manner. I have no right to\nrun hither and thither preaching while my business at home lies \"in\nsixes and sevens,\" bringing great reproach on the holy doctrine of\nGod. A man may say, I feel myself called to preach the gospel, and I\nfind my situation, or my business, a clog. Well, _if you are divinely\ncalled and fitted_ for the work of the gospel, and that you cannot\ncombine the two things, then resign your situation, or wind up your\nbusiness, in a godly manner, and go forth in the name of the Lord.\nBut, clearly, so long as I hold a situation, or carry on a business,\nmy work in the gospel must begin from a point within which the godly\nclaims of such business or situation are fully responded to. This is\ndevotedness: aught else is confusion, however well intended. Blessed\nbe God, we have a perfect example before us in the life of the Lord\nJesus, and ample guidance for the new man in the Word of God; so that\nwe need not make any mistakes in the varied relationships which we may\nbe called, in the providence of God, to fill, or as to the various\nclaims which God's moral government has set up in connection with such\nrelationships.\n\nII. The second point in our theme is the mode in which the\nmeat-offering was prepared. This was, as we read, by the action of\nfire,--it was \"baken in an oven\"--\"baken in a pan,\" or \"baken in a\nfrying-pan.\" The process of baking suggests the idea of suffering. But\ninasmuch as the meat-offering is called \"a sweet savor\" (a term which\nis never applied to the sin-offering or trespass-offering), it is\nevident that there is no thought of suffering for sin--no thought of\nsuffering the wrath of God on account of sin--no thought of suffering\nat the hand of Infinite Justice, as the sinner's substitute. The two\nideas of \"sweet savor\" and suffering for sin are wholly incompatible\naccording to the Levitical economy. It would completely destroy the\ntype of the meat-offering were we to introduce into it the idea of\nsuffering for sin.\n\nIn contemplating the _life_ of the Lord Jesus, which, as we have\nalready remarked, is the special subject foreshadowed in the\nmeat-offering, we may notice three distinct kinds of suffering,\nnamely, suffering for righteousness, suffering by the power of\nsympathy, and suffering in anticipation.\n\nAs the righteous Servant of God, He suffered in the midst of a scene\nin which all was contrary to Him; but this was the very opposite of\nsuffering for sin. It is of the utmost importance to distinguish\nbetween these two kinds of suffering. The confounding of them must\nlead to serious error. Suffering as a righteous One standing amongst\nmen on God's behalf is one thing, and suffering instead of man under\nthe hand of God is quite another. The Lord Jesus suffered for\nrighteousness during His _life_: He suffered for sin in His _death_.\nDuring His life, man and Satan did their utmost; and even at the cross\nthey put forth all their powers; but when all that they could do was\ndone--when they had traveled, in their deadly enmity, to the utmost\nlimit of human and diabolical opposition, there lay, far beyond, a\nregion of impenetrable gloom and horror into which the Sin-bearer had\nto travel, in the accomplishment of His work. During His life, He ever\nwalked in the unclouded light of the divine countenance; but on the\ncursed tree, the dark shadow of sin intervened and shut out that\nlight, and drew forth that mysterious cry, \"My God, My God, why hast\nThou forsaken Me?\" This was a moment which stands absolutely alone in\nthe annals of eternity. From time to time during the life of Christ\ndown here, heaven had opened to give forth the expression of divine\ncomplacency in Him; but on the cross, God forsook Him, because He was\nmaking His soul an offering for sin. If Christ had been a sin-bearer\nall His life, then what was the difference between the cross and any\nother period? Why was He not forsaken of God during His entire course?\nWhat was the difference between Christ on the cross, and Christ on the\nholy mount of transfiguration? Was He forsaken of God on the mount?\nwas He a sin-bearer there? These are very simple questions, which\nshould be answered by those who maintain the idea of a life of\nsin-bearing.\n\nThe plain fact is this: there was nothing either in Christ's humanity\nor in the nature of His associations which could possibly connect Him\nwith sin, or wrath, or death. He was \"made sin\" on the cross; and\nthere He endured the wrath of God, and there He gave up His life, as\nan all-sufficient atonement for sin; but nothing of this finds a place\nin the meat-offering. True, we have the process of baking--the action\nof fire; but this is not the wrath of God. The meat-offering was not a\nsin-offering, but a \"sweet savor\" offering. Thus, its import is\ndefinitely fixed; and, moreover, the intelligent interpretation of it\nmust ever guard, with holy jealousy, the precious truth of Christ's\nspotless humanity, and the true nature of His associations. To make\nHim, by the necessity of His birth, a sin-bearer, or to place Him\nthereby under the curse of the law and the wrath of God, is to\ncontradict the entire truth of God as to incarnation--truth announced\nby the angel, and repeated again and again by the inspired apostle.\nMoreover, it destroys the entire character and object of Christ's\nlife, and robs the cross of its distinctive glory. It lowers the sense\nof what sin is, and of what atonement is. In one word, it removes the\nkey-stone of the arch of revelation, and lays all in hopeless ruin and\nconfusion around us.\n\nBut, again, the Lord Jesus suffered by the power of sympathy; and this\ncharacter of suffering unfolds to us the deep secrets of His tender\nheart. Human sorrow and human misery ever touched a chord in that\nbosom of love. It was impossible that a perfect human heart could\navoid feeling, according to its own divine sensibilities, the\nmiseries which sin had entailed upon the human family. Though\npersonally free both from the cause and the effect--though belonging\nto heaven, and living a perfect heavenly life on the earth, yet did He\ndescend, by the power of an intense sympathy, into the deepest depths\nof human sorrow; yea, He felt the sorrow more keenly, by far, than\nthose who were the direct subjects thereof, inasmuch as His humanity\nwas perfect. And, further, He was able to contemplate both the sorrow\nand its cause according to their just measure and character in the\npresence of God. He felt as none else could feel. His feelings, His\naffections, His sensibilities, His whole moral and mental\nconstitution, were perfect; and hence none can tell what such an One\nmust have suffered in passing through such a world as this. He beheld\nthe human family struggling beneath the ponderous weight of guilt and\nwretchedness; He beheld the whole creation groaning under the yoke;\nthe cry of the prisoner fell upon His ear; the tear of the widow met\nHis view; bereavement and poverty touched His sensitive heart;\nsickness and death made Him \"groan in the spirit;\" His sympathetic\nsufferings were beyond all human conception.\n\nI shall quote a passage for my reader, illustrative of that character\nof suffering to which we are now referring.--\"When the even was come,\nthey brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils; and He\ncast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick;\nthat it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet,\nsaying, '_Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses_.'\"\n(Matt. viii. 16, 17.) This was entirely sympathetic--the power of\nfellow-feeling, which in Him was perfect. He had no sicknesses or\ninfirmities of His own. Those things which are sometimes spoken of as\n\"sinless infirmities,\" were, in His case, but the evidences of a\nveritable, a real, a perfect manhood. But by sympathy--by perfect\nfellow-feeling, \"He _took_ our infirmities, and _bare_ our\nsicknesses.\" None but a perfect man could have done this. We may feel\nfor and with each other, but only Jesus could make human infirmity and\nsickness His own.\n\nNow, had He been bearing all these things by the necessity of His\nbirth, or of His relations with Israel and the human family, we should\nhave lost all the beauty and preciousness of His voluntary sympathy.\nThere could be no room for voluntary action when absolute necessity\nwas laid upon Him. But, on the other hand, when we see His entire\nfreedom, both personally and relatively, from human misery and that\nwhich produced it, we can enter into that perfect grace and compassion\nwhich led Him to \"take our infirmities, and bear our sicknesses,\" in\nthe power of true sympathy. There is, therefore, a very manifest\ndifference between Christ's suffering as a voluntary sympathizer with\nhuman misery, and His sufferings as the sinner's substitute. The\nformer are apparent throughout His entire _life_; the latter are\nconfined to His _death_.\n\nFinally, we have to consider Christ's sufferings by anticipation. We\nfind the dark shadow of the cross casting itself athwart His path, and\nproducing a very keen order of suffering, which, however, must be as\nclearly distinguished from His atoning suffering as either His\nsuffering for righteousness or His suffering by sympathy. Let us take\na passage in proof--\"And He came out, and went, as He was wont, to the\nmount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him. And when He was\nat the place, He said unto them, 'Pray that ye enter not into\ntemptation.' And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and\nkneeled down, and prayed, saying, 'Father, if Thou be willing, remove\nthis cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.' And\nthere appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And\nbeing in an agony, He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it\nwere great drops of blood falling down to the ground.\" (Luke xxii.\n39-44.) Again, we read, \"And He took with Him Peter and the two sons\nof Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith He\nunto them, 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye\nhere, and watch with Me.'... He went away again the second time, and\nprayed, saying, 'O My Father, if this cup may not pass from Me, except\nI drink it, Thy will be done.'\" (Matt. xxvi. 37-42.)\n\nFrom these verses, it is evident there was a something in prospect\nwhich the blessed Lord had never encountered before,--there was a\n\"cup\" being filled out for Him of which He had not yet drunk. If He\nhad been a sin-bearer all His life, then why this intense \"agony\" at\nthe thought of coming in contact with sin and enduring the wrath of\nGod on account of sin? What was the difference between Christ in\nGethsemane and Christ at Calvary if He were a sin-bearer all His life?\nThere was a material difference; but it is because He was not a\nsin-bearer all His life. What is the difference? In Gethsemane, He was\n_anticipating_ the cross; at Calvary, He was actually _enduring_ it.\nIn Gethsemane, \"there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven,\nstrengthening Him;\" at Calvary, He was forsaken of all. There was no\nangelic ministry there. In Gethsemane, He addresses God as \"_Father_,\"\nthus enjoying the full communion of that ineffable relationship; but\nat Calvary, He cries, \"My _God_, My _God_, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\"\nHere the Sin-bearer looks up and beholds the throne of Eternal Justice\nenveloped in dark clouds, and the countenance of Inflexible Holiness\naverted from Him, because He was being \"made sin for us.\"\n\nThe reader will, I trust, find no difficulty in examining this subject\nfor himself. He will be able to trace, in detail, the three characters\nof the _life_-sufferings of our blessed Lord, and to distinguish\nbetween them and His _death_-sufferings--His sufferings for sin. He\nwill see how that when man and Satan had done their utmost, there yet\nremained a character of suffering which was perfectly unique, namely,\nsuffering at the hand of God on account of sin--suffering as the\nsinner's substitute. Until He came to the cross, He could ever look up\nand bask in the clear light of His Father's countenance; in the\ndarkest hour, He found a sure resource above. His path down here was a\nrough one. How could it be otherwise, in a world where all was\ndirectly contrary to His pure and holy nature? He had to \"endure the\ncontradiction of sinners against Himself;\" He had to endure \"the\nreproach of them that reproached God.\" What had He not to endure? He\nwas misunderstood, misinterpreted, abused, maligned, accused of being\nmad, and of having a devil. He was betrayed, denied, deserted, mocked,\nbuffeted, spit upon, crowned with thorns, cast out, condemned, and\nnailed between two malefactors. All these things He endured at the\nhand of man, together with all the unutterable terrors which Satan\nbrought to bear upon His spirit; but, let it be once more emphatically\nrepeated, when man and Satan had exhausted their power and enmity, our\nblessed Lord and Saviour had to endure a something compared with which\nall the rest was as nothing, and that was the hiding of God's\ncountenance--the three hours of darkness and awful gloom, during which\nHe suffered what none but God could know.\n\nNow, when Scripture speaks of our having fellowship with Christ's\nsufferings, it refers simply to His sufferings for righteousness--His\nsufferings at the hand of man. Christ suffered for sin that we might\nnot have to suffer for it.--He endured the wrath of God that we might\nnot have to endure it (this is the ground of our peace); but as\nregards suffering from man, we shall always find that the more\nfaithfully we follow in the footsteps of Christ, the more we shall\nsuffer in this respect; but this is a matter of gift, a matter of\nprivilege, a favor, a dignity. (See Phil. i. 29, 30.) To walk in the\nfootsteps of Christ--to enjoy companionship with Him--to be thrown\ninto a place of sympathy with Him, are privileges of the very highest\norder. Would that we all entered more fully into them! But, alas! we\nare too well content to do without them--too well satisfied, like\nPeter, to \"follow afar off\"--to keep aloof from a despised and\nsuffering Christ. All this is, undoubtedly, our heavy loss. Had we\nonly more fellowship with His sufferings, the crown would glisten far\nmore brightly in our soul's vision. When we shrink from fellowship\nwith Christ's sufferings, we rob ourselves of the deep joy of His\npresent companionship, and also of the moral power of the hope of His\nfuture glory.\n\nIII. Having considered the ingredients which composed the\nmeat-offering, and the various forms in which it was presented, it\nonly remains for us to refer to the persons who partook of it. These\nwere the head and members of the priestly house. \"And that which is\nleft of the meat-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a\nthing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.\" (Ver. 10.)\nAs in the burnt-offering we observed the sons of Aaron introduced as\ntypes of all true believers, not as convicted sinners, but as\nworshiping priests; so in the meat-offering we find them feeding upon\nthe remnant of that which had been laid, as it were, on the table of\nthe God of Israel. This was a high and holy privilege. None but\npriests could enjoy it. This is set forth with great distinctness in\n\"the law of the meat-offering,\" which I shall here quote at\nlength.--\"And this is the law of the meat-offering: The sons of Aaron\nshall offer it before the Lord, before the altar. And he shall take of\nit his handful, of the flour of the meat-offering, and of the oil\nthereof, and _all the frankincense_ which is upon the meat-offering,\nand shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial\nof it, unto the Lord. And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his\nsons eat: _with unleavened bread_ shall it be eaten _in the holy\nplace_; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall\neat it. It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them\nfor their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is\nthe sin-offering, and as the trespass-offering. _All the males_ among\nthe children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute forever\nin your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire:\n_every one that toucheth them shall be holy_.\" (Lev. vi. 14-18.)\n\nHere, then, we are furnished with a beauteous figure of the Church\nfeeding \"in the holy place,\" in the power of practical holiness, upon\nthe perfections of \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" This is our portion,\nthrough the grace of God; but, we must remember, it is to be eaten\n\"with unleavened bread.\" We cannot feed upon Christ if we are\nindulging in any thing evil. \"Every one that toucheth them shall be\nholy.\" Moreover, it must be \"in the holy place.\" Our position, our\npractice, our persons, our associations, must be holy ere we can feed\nupon the meat-offering. Finally, it is \"all the males among the\nchildren of Aaron shall eat of it.\" That is to say, real priestly\nenergy, according to the divine idea of it, is required in order to\nenjoy this holy portion. Aaron's \"_sons_\" set forth the idea of\n_energy_ in priestly action: his \"_daughters_,\" _feebleness_ therein.\n(Compare Numb. xviii. 8-13.) There were some things which the sons\ncould eat which the daughters could not. Our hearts should earnestly\ndesire the highest measure of priestly energy, so that we may\ndischarge the highest priestly functions, and partake of the highest\norder of priestly food.\n\nIn conclusion, let me add, that inasmuch as we are made, through\ngrace, \"partakers of the divine nature,\" we can, if living in the\nenergy of that nature, walk in the footsteps of Him who is\nforeshadowed in the meat-offering. If only we are self-emptied, our\nevery act may emit a sweet odor to God. The smallest as well as the\ngreatest services may, by the power of the Holy Ghost, present the\nfragrance of Christ. The paying of a visit, the writing of a letter,\nthe public ministry of the Word, giving a cup of cold water to a\ndisciple, giving a penny to a pauper, yea, the commonplace acts of\neating and drinking--all may emit the sweet perfume of the name and\ngrace of Jesus.\n\nSo, also, if only nature be kept in the place of death, there may be\nin us the exhibition of that which is not corruptible, even a\nconversation seasoned with the \"salt\" of abiding communion with God.\nBut in all these things we fail and come short; we grieve the Holy\nSpirit of God in our ways. We are prone to self-seeking or\nmen-pleasing in our very best services, and we fail to \"season\" our\nconversation. Hence our constant deficiency in the \"oil,\" the\n\"frankincense,\" and the \"salt;\" while, at the same time, there is the\ntendency to suffer the \"leaven\" or the \"honey\" of nature to make its\nappearance. There has been but one perfect \"meat-offering;\" and,\nblessed be God, we are accepted in Him. We are the \"sons\" of the true\nAaron; our place is in the sanctuary, where we can feed upon the holy\nportion. Happy place! Happy portion! May we enjoy them more than ever\nwe have done! May our retirement of heart from all but Christ be more\nprofound! May our gaze at Him be so intense that we shall have no\nheart for the attractions of the scene around us, nor yet for the ten\nthousand petty circumstances in our path which would fret the heart\nand perplex the mind! May we rejoice in Christ in the sunshine and in\nthe darkness; when the gentle breezes of summer play around us, and\nwhen the storms of winter rage fiercely abroad; when passing over the\nsurface of a placid lake, or tossed on the bosom of a stormy ocean.\nThank God, \"we have found Him\" who is to be our satisfying portion\nforever! We shall spend eternity dwelling upon the divine perfections\nof the Lord Jesus. Our eyes shall never be averted from Him when once\nwe have seen Him as He is.\n\nMay the Spirit of God work mightily in us, to strengthen us \"in the\ninner man\"! May He enable us to feed upon that perfect Meat-offering,\nthe memorial of which has been fed upon by God Himself! This is our\nholy and happy privilege. May we realize it yet more fully!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nThe more closely we contemplate the offerings, the more fully do we\nsee how that no one offering furnishes a complete view of Christ. It\nis only by putting all together that any thing like a just idea can be\nformed. Each offering, as might be expected, has features peculiar to\nitself. The peace-offering differs from the burnt-offering in many\npoints, and a clear understanding of the points in which any one type\ndiffers from the others will be found to help much in the apprehension\nof its special import.\n\nThus, in comparing the peace-offering with the burnt-offering, we find\nthat the threefold action of \"flaying,\" \"cutting it into its pieces,\"\nand \"washing the inwards and legs\" is entirely omitted: and this is\nquite in character. In the burnt-offering, as we have seen, we find\nChrist offering Himself to and accepted by God; and hence the\ncompleteness of His self-surrender, and also the searching process to\nwhich He submitted Himself, had to be typified. In the peace-offering,\nthe leading thought is the communion of the worshiper. It is not\nChrist as enjoyed exclusively by God, but as enjoyed by the worshiper\nin communion with God; therefore it is that the whole line of action\nis less intense. No heart, be its love ever so elevated, could\npossibly rise to the height of Christ's devotedness to God, or of\nGod's acceptance of Christ. None but God Himself could duly note the\npulsations of that heart which throbbed in the bosom of Jesus; and\ntherefore a type was needed to set forth that one feature of Christ's\ndeath, namely, His perfect devotedness therein to God. This type we\nhave in the burnt-offering, in which alone we observe the threefold\naction above referred to.\n\nSo also in reference to the character of the sacrifice. In the\nburnt-offering, it should be \"a male without blemish;\" whereas in the\npeace-offering, it might be \"a male or female,\" though equally\n\"without blemish.\" The nature of Christ, whether we view Him as\nenjoyed exclusively by God, or by the worshiper in fellowship with\nGod, must ever be one and the same; there can be no alteration in\nthat. The only reason why \"a female\" was permitted in the\npeace-offering, was because it was a question of the worshiper's\ncapacity to enjoy that blessed One, who, in Himself, is \"the same\nyesterday, to-day, and forever.\" (Heb. xiii.)\n\nAgain, in the burnt-offering, we read, \"The priest shall burn _all_;\"\nwhereas in the peace-offering, _a part_ only was burnt, that is, \"the\nfat, the kidneys, and the caul.\" This makes it exceedingly simple. The\nmost excellent portion of the sacrifice was laid on God's altar. The\ninward parts--the hidden energies--the tender sensibilities of the\nblessed Jesus, were devoted to God, as the only One who could\nperfectly enjoy them. Aaron and his sons fed upon \"the wave breast\"\nand \"the heave shoulder.\"[6] (See, carefully, Lev. vii. 28-36.) All\nthe members of the priestly family, in communion with their head, had\ntheir proper portion of the peace-offering; and now, all true\nbelievers constituted, by grace, priests unto God, can feed upon the\n_affections_ and the _strength_ of the true Peace-offering,--can enjoy\nthe happy assurance of having His loving heart and powerful shoulder\nto comfort and sustain them continually.[7] \"This is the portion of\nthe anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the\nofferings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them\nto minister unto the Lord in the priest's office; which the Lord\ncommanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that\nHe anointed them by a statute forever throughout their generations.\"\n(Chap. vii. 35, 36.)\n\n [6] The \"breast\" and the \"shoulder\" are emblematical of love and\n power--strength and affection.\n\n [7] There is much force and beauty in verse 31--\"The breast shall be\n Aaron's and his sons'.\" It is the privilege of all true believers to\n feed upon the affections of Christ--the changeless love of that heart\n which beats with a deathless and changeless love for them.\n\nAll these are important points of difference between the\nburnt-offering and the peace-offering, and when taken together, they\nset the two offerings with great clearness before the mind. There is\nsomething more in the peace-offering than the abstract devotedness of\nChrist to the will of God. The worshiper is introduced; and that not\nmerely as a spectator, but as a participator--not merely to gaze, but\nto feed. This gives very marked character to this offering. When I\nlook at the Lord Jesus in the burnt-offering, I see Him as One whose\nheart was devoted to the one object of glorifying God and\naccomplishing His will; but when I see Him in the peace-offering, I\nfind One who has a place in His loving heart and on His powerful\nshoulder for a worthless, helpless sinner. In the burnt-offering, the\nbreast and shoulder, legs and inwards, head and fat, were all burnt on\nthe altar--all went up as a sweet savor to God; but in the\npeace-offering, the very portion that suits me is left for me. Nor am\nI left to feed in solitude on that which meets my individual need. By\nno means. I feed in communion--in communion with God, and in communion\nwith my fellow-priests. I feed in the full and happy intelligence that\nthe self-same sacrifice which feeds my soul has already refreshed the\nheart of God; and, moreover, that the same portion which feeds me\nfeeds all my fellow-worshipers. Communion is the order\nhere,--communion with God--the communion of saints. There was no such\nthing as isolation in the peace-offering. God had His portion, and so\nhad the priestly family.\n\nThus it is in connection with the Antitype of the peace-offering. The\nvery same Jesus who is the object of Heaven's delight, is the spring\nof joy, of strength, and of comfort to every believing heart; and not\nonly to every heart in particular, but also to the whole church of God\nin fellowship. God, in His exceeding grace, has given His people the\nvery same object that He has Himself. \"Truly our fellowship is with\nthe Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.\" (1 John i.) True, our\nthoughts of Jesus can never rise to the height of God's thoughts. Our\nestimation of such an object must ever fall far short of His; and\nhence, in the type, the house of Aaron could not partake of the fat.\nBut though we can never rise to the standard of the divine estimation\nof Christ's Person and sacrifice, it is nevertheless the same object\nwe are occupied with, and therefore the house of Aaron had \"the wave\nbreast and the heave shoulder.\" All this is replete with comfort and\njoy to the heart. The Lord Jesus Christ, the One \"who was dead, but is\nalive for evermore,\" is now the exclusive object before the eye and\nthoughts of God; and, in perfect grace, He has given unto us a portion\nin the same blessed and all-glorious Person. Christ is our object\ntoo--the object of our hearts and the theme of our song. \"Having made\npeace by the blood of His cross,\" He ascended into heaven, and sent\ndown the Holy Ghost, that \"other Comforter,\" by whose powerful\nministrations we feed upon \"the breast and shoulder\" of our divine\n\"Peace-offering.\" He is indeed our peace; and it is our exceeding joy\nto know that such is God's delight in the establishment of our peace,\nthat the sweet odor of our Peace-offering has refreshed His heart.\nThis imparts a peculiar charm to this type. Christ as the\nBurnt-offering commands the admiration of the heart; Christ as the\nPeace-offering establishes the peace of the conscience, and meets the\ndeep and manifold necessities of the soul. The sons of Aaron might\nstand around the altar of burnt-offering; they might behold the flame\nof that offering ascending to the God of Israel; they might see the\nsacrifice reduced to ashes; they might, in view of all this, bow their\nheads and worship; but they carried naught away for themselves. Not so\nin the peace-offering. In it, they not only beheld that which was\ncapable of emitting a sweet odor to God, but also of yielding a most\nsubstantial portion for themselves, on which they could feed in happy\nand holy fellowship.\n\nAnd, assuredly, it heightens the enjoyment of every true priest to\nknow that God (to use the language of our type) has had His portion\nere he gets the breast and the shoulder. The thought of this gives\ntone and energy, unction and elevation, to the worship and communion;\nit unfolds the amazing grace of Him who has given us the same object,\nthe same theme, the same joy with Himself. Nothing lower--nothing less\nthan this could satisfy Him. The Father will have the prodigal\nfeeding upon the fatted calf, in fellowship with Himself. He will not\nassign him a lower place than at His own table, nor any other portion\nthan that on which He feeds Himself. The language of the\npeace-offering is, \"It is meet that _we_ should make merry and be\nglad,\"--\"Let _us_ eat and be merry.\" Such is the precious grace of\nGod! No doubt we have reason to be glad, as being the partakers of\nsuch grace; but when we can hear the blessed God saying, \"Let _us_ eat\nand be merry,\" it should call forth from our hearts a continual stream\nof praise and thanksgiving. God's joy in the salvation of sinners, and\nHis joy in the communion of saints, may well elicit the admiration of\nmen and angels throughout eternity.\n\nHaving thus compared the peace-offering with the burnt-offering, we\nmay now briefly glance at it in connection with the meat-offering. The\nleading point of difference here is, that in the peace-offering there\nwas blood-shedding, and in the meat-offering there was not. They were\nboth \"sweet savor\" offerings; and, as we learn from chap. vii. 12, the\ntwo offerings were very intimately associated. Now, both the\nconnection and the contrast are full of meaning and instruction.\n\nIt is only in communion with God that the soul can delight itself in\ncontemplating the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. God the\nHoly Ghost must _impart_, as He must also _direct_, by the Word, the\nvision by which we can gaze on \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" He might have\nbeen revealed \"in the likeness of sinful flesh,\"--He might have lived\nand labored on this earth,--He might have shone amid the darkness of\nthis world in all the heavenly lustre and beauty which belonged to His\nPerson,--He might have passed rapidly, like a brilliant luminary,\nacross this world's horizon,--and all the while have been beyond the\nrange of the sinner's vision.\n\nMan could not enter into the deep joy of communion with all this,\nsimply because there would be no basis laid down on which this\ncommunion might rest. In the peace-offering, this necessary basis is\nfully and clearly established.--\"He shall lay his hand upon the head\nof his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the\ncongregation: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood\nupon the altar round about.\" (Chap. iii. 2.) Here, we have that which\nthe meat-offering does not supply, namely, a solid foundation for the\nworshiper's communion with all the fullness, the preciousness, and the\nbeauty of Christ, so far as he, by the gracious energy of the Holy\nGhost, is enabled to enter thereinto. Standing on the platform which\n\"the precious blood of Christ\" provides, we can range, with\ntranquilized hearts and worshiping spirits, throughout all the\nwondrous scenes of the manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had we naught\nsave the meat-offering aspect of Christ, we should lack the title by\nwhich, and the ground on which, we can contemplate and enjoy Him\ntherein. If there were no blood-shedding, there could be no title--no\nstanding-place for the sinner. But Leviticus vii. 12 links the\nmeat-offering with the peace-offering, and, by so doing, teaches us,\nthat, when our souls have found peace, we can delight in the One who\nhas \"made peace,\" and who is \"our peace.\"\n\nBut let it be distinctly understood that while in the peace-offering\nwe have the shedding and sprinkling of blood, yet sin-bearing is not\nthe thought. When we view Christ in the peace-offering, He does not\nstand before us as the bearer of our sins, as in the sin and trespass\nofferings, but (having borne them) as the ground of our peaceful and\nhappy fellowship with God. If sin-bearing were in question, it could\nnot be said, \"It is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto\nthe Lord.\" (Chap. iii. 5, comp. with chap. iv. 10-12.) Still, though\nsin-bearing is not the thought, there is full provision for one who\nknows himself to be a sinner, else he could not have any portion\ntherein. To have fellowship with God, we must be \"in the light;\" and\nhow can we be there? Only on the ground of that precious\nstatement--\"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from _all_\nsin.\" (1 John i.) The more we abide in the light, the deeper will be\nour sense of every thing which is contrary to that light; and the\ndeeper, also, our sense of the value of that blood which entitles us\nto be there. The more closely we walk with God, the more we shall know\nof \"the unsearchable riches of Christ.\"\n\nIt is most needful to be established in the truth that we are in the\npresence of God only as the partakers of divine life, and as standing\nin divine righteousness. The father could only have the prodigal at\nhis table clothed in \"the best robe,\" and in all the integrity of that\nrelationship in which he viewed him. Had the prodigal been left in his\nrags, or placed \"as a hired servant\" in the house, we never should\nhave heard those glorious words, \"Let us eat and be merry: for this\n_my son_ was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.\"\nThus it is with all true believers. Their old nature is not recognized\nas existing before God. He counts it dead, and so should they. It is\ndead to God, dead to faith. It must be kept in the place of death. It\nis not by improving our old nature that we get into the divine\npresence, but as the possessors of a new nature. It was not by\nrepairing the rags of his former condition that the prodigal got a\nplace at the father's table, but by being clothed in a robe which he\nhad never seen or thought of before. He did not bring this robe with\nhim from the \"far country,\" neither did he provide it as he came\nalong; but the father had it for him in the house. The prodigal did\nnot make it, or help to make it; but the father provided it for him,\nand rejoiced to see it on him. Thus it was they sat down together, to\nfeed in happy fellowship upon \"the fatted calf.\"\n\nI shall now proceed to quote at length \"the law of the sacrifice of\npeace-offering,\" in which we shall find some additional points of much\ninterest--points which belong peculiarly to itself.--\"And this is the\nlaw of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he shall offer unto\nthe Lord: If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with\nthe sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and\nunleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of\nfine flour, fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering\nleavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his\npeace-offerings. And of it he shall offer one out of the whole\noblation for a heave-offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the\npriest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offerings. And the\nflesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving shall\nbe eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it\nuntil the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a\nvoluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth\nhis sacrifice; and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be\neaten; but the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third\nday shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice\nof his peace-offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not\nbe accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it\nshall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his\niniquity. And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be\neaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be\nclean shall eat thereof. But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the\nsacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto the Lord, having his\nuncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.\nMoreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the\nuncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean\nthing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which\npertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his\npeople.\" (Lev. vii. 11-21.)\n\nIt is of the utmost importance that we accurately distinguish between\nsin _in the flesh_ and sin _on the conscience_. If we confound these\ntwo, our souls must necessarily be unhinged, and our worship marred.\nAn attentive consideration of 1 John i. 8-10 will throw much light\nupon this subject, the understanding of which is so essential to a due\nappreciation of the entire doctrine of the peace-offering, and more\nespecially of that point therein at which we have now arrived. There\nis no one who will be so conscious of indwelling sin as the man who\nwalks in the light. \"If we say that we have _no sin_, we deceive\nourselves, and the truth is not in us.\" In the verse immediately\npreceding, we read, \"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us\nfrom _all sin_.\" Here, the distinction between sin _in_ us and sin\n_on_ us is fully brought out and established. To say that there is sin\non the believer, in the presence of God, is to call in question the\npurging efficacy of the blood of Jesus, and to deny the truth of the\ndivine record. If the blood of Jesus can perfectly purge, then the\nbeliever's conscience is perfectly purged. The Word of God thus puts\nthe matter; and we must ever remember that it is from God Himself we\nare to learn what the true condition of the believer is in His sight.\nWe are more disposed to be occupied in telling God what we are in\nourselves, than to allow Him to tell us what we are in Christ. In\nother words, we are more taken up with our own self-consciousness than\nwith God's revelation of Himself. God speaks to us on the ground of\nwhat He is in Himself, and of what He has accomplished in Christ. Such\nis the nature and character of His revelation, of which faith takes\nhold, and thus fills the soul with perfect peace. God's revelation is\none thing; my consciousness is quite another.\n\nBut the same Word which tells us we have no sin _on_ us, tells us,\nwith equal force and clearness, that we have sin _in_ us. \"If we say\nthat we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in\nus.\" Every one who has \"truth\" in him, will know that he has \"_sin_\"\nin him likewise; for truth reveals every thing as it is. What, then,\nare we to do? It is our privilege so to walk in the power of the new\nnature, that the \"_sin_\" which dwells in us may not manifest itself in\nthe form of \"_sins_.\" The Christian's position is one of victory and\nliberty. He is not only delivered from the guilt of sin, but also from\nsin as a ruling principle in his life. \"Knowing this, that our old man\nis crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that\nhenceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from\nsin.... Let not sin therefore _reign_ in your mortal body, that ye\nshould _obey_ it in the lusts thereof.... For sin shall not have\ndominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.\"\n(Rom. vi. 6-14.) Sin is there in all its native vileness; but the\nbeliever is \"dead to it.\" How? He died in Christ. By nature, he was\ndead _in_ sin: by grace, he is dead _to_ it. What claim can any thing\nor any one have upon a dead man? None whatever. Christ \"died unto sin\nonce,\" and the believer died in Him. \"Now if we be dead with Christ,\nwe believe that we shall also live with Him: knowing that Christ being\nraised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over\nHim. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He\nliveth, He liveth unto God.\" What is the result of this in reference\nto believers? \"_Likewise_ reckon ye also yourselves to be _dead indeed\nunto sin_, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.\" Such is\nthe believer's unalterable position before God! so that it is his holy\nprivilege to enjoy freedom from sin as a _ruler_ over him, though it\nbe a _dweller_ in him.\n\nBut then, \"if any man sin,\" what is to be done? The inspired apostle\nfurnishes a full and most blessed answer,--\"If we confess our sins, He\nis faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from\nall unrighteousness.\" (1 John i. 9.) Confession is the mode in which\nthe conscience is to be kept free. The apostle does not say, If we\npray for pardon, He is gracious and merciful to forgive us. No doubt\nit is ever happy for a child to breathe the sense of need into his\nfather's ear--to tell him of feebleness, to confess folly, infirmity,\nand failure. All this is most true; and, moreover, it is equally true\nthat our Father is most gracious and merciful to meet His children in\nall their weakness and ignorance; but, while all this is true, the\nHoly Ghost declares, by the apostle, that \"if we _confess_,\" God is\n\"_faithful_ and _just_ to forgive.\" Confession, therefore, is the\ndivine mode. A Christian, having erred, in thought, word, or deed,\nmight pray for pardon for days and months together, and not have any\nassurance, from 1 John i. 9, that he was forgiven; whereas the moment\nhe truly confesses his sin before God, it is a simple matter of faith\nto know that he is perfectly forgiven and perfectly cleansed.\n\nThere is an immense moral difference between praying for forgiveness\nand confessing our sins, whether we look at it in reference to the\ncharacter of God, the sacrifice of Christ, or the condition of the\nsoul. It is quite possible that a person's prayer may involve the\nconfession of his sin, whatever it may happen to be, and thus come to\nthe same thing; but then it is always well to keep close to Scripture\nin what we think and say and do. It must be evident that when the Holy\nGhost speaks of _confession_, He does not mean _praying_; and it is\nequally evident that He knows there are moral elements in, and\npractical results flowing out of, confession, which do not belong to\nprayer. In point of fact, one has often found that a habit of\nimportuning God for the forgiveness of sins displayed ignorance as to\nthe way in which God has revealed Himself in the Person and work of\nChrist, as to the relation in which the sacrifice of Christ has set\nthe believer, and as to the divine mode of getting the conscience\nrelieved from the burden and purified from the soil of sin.\n\nGod has been perfectly satisfied as to all the believer's sins in the\ncross of Christ. On that cross, a full atonement was presented for\nevery jot and tittle of sin in the believer's nature and on his\nconscience. Hence, therefore, God does not need any further\npropitiation. He does not need aught to draw His heart toward the\nbeliever. We do not require to supplicate Him to be \"faithful and\njust,\" when His faithfulness and justice have been so gloriously\ndisplayed, vindicated, and answered in the death of Christ. Our sins\ncan never come into God's presence, inasmuch as Christ, who bore them\nall and put them away, is there instead. But if we sin, conscience\nwill feel it--must feel it,--yea, the Holy Ghost will make us feel it.\nHe cannot allow so much as a single light thought to pass unjudged.\nWhat then? Has our sin made its way into the presence of God? Has it\nfound its place in the unsullied light of the inner sanctuary? God\nforbid! The \"Advocate\" is there--\"Jesus Christ the righteous,\" to\nmaintain, in unbroken integrity, the relationship in which we stand.\nBut though sin cannot affect God's thoughts in reference to us, it can\nand does affect our thoughts in reference to Him;[8] though it cannot\nmake its way into His presence, it can make its way into ours, in a\nmost distressing and humiliating manner; though it cannot hide the\nAdvocate from God's view, it can hide Him from ours. It gathers, like\na thick, dark cloud, on our spiritual horizon, so that our souls\ncannot bask in the blessed beams of our Father's countenance. It\ncannot affect our relationship with God, but it can very seriously\naffect our enjoyment thereof. What, therefore, are we to do? The Word\nanswers, \"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive\nus our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\" By\nconfession, we get our conscience cleared, the sweet sense of\nrelationship restored, the dark cloud dispersed, the chilling,\nwithering influence removed, our thoughts of God set straight. Such is\nthe divine method; and we may truly say that the heart that knows what\nit is to have ever been in the place of confession, will feel the\ndivine power of the apostle's words--\"My little children, these things\nwrite I unto you, THAT YE SIN NOT.\" (1 John ii. 1.)\n\n [8] The reader will bear in mind that the subject treated of in the\n text leaves wholly untouched the important and most practical truth\n taught in John xiv. 21-23, namely, the peculiar love of the Father for\n an obedient child, and the special communion of such a child with the\n Father and the Son. May this truth be written on all our hearts, by\n the pen of God the Holy Ghost!\n\nThen, again, there is a style of praying for forgiveness which\ninvolves a losing sight of the perfect ground of forgiveness which has\nbeen laid in the sacrifice of the cross. If God forgives sins, He must\nbe \"faithful and just\" in so doing; but it is quite clear that our\nprayers, be they ever so sincere and earnest, could not form the basis\nof God's faithfulness and justice in forgiving us our sins. Naught\nsave the work of the cross could do this. There, the faithfulness and\njustice of God have had their fullest establishment, and that, too,\nin immediate reference to our actual sins, as well as to the root\nthereof in our nature. God has already judged our sins in the Person\nof our Substitute \"on the tree;\" and, in the act of confession, we\njudge ourselves. This is essential to divine forgiveness and\nrestoration. The very smallest unconfessed, unjudged sin on the\nconscience will entirely mar our communion with God. Sin _in_ us need\nnot do this; but if we suffer sin to remain _on_ us, we cannot have\nfellowship with God. He has put away our sins in such a manner as that\nHe can have us in His presence; and so long as we abide in His\npresence, sin does not trouble us; but if we get out of His presence,\nand commit sin, even in thought, our communion must, of necessity, be\nsuspended, until, by confession, we have got rid of the sin. All this,\nI need hardly add, is founded exclusively upon the perfect sacrifice\nand righteous advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nFinally, as to the difference between prayer and confession, as\nrespects the condition of the heart before God, and its moral sense of\nthe hatefulness of sin, it cannot possibly be over-estimated. It is a\nmuch easier thing to ask, in a general way, for the forgiveness of our\nsins than to confess those sins. Confession involves _self-judgment_;\nasking for forgiveness may not, and, in itself, does not. This alone\nwould be sufficient to point out the difference. Self-judgment is one\nof the most valuable and healthful exercises of the Christian life,\nand therefore any thing which produces it must be highly esteemed by\nevery earnest Christian.\n\nThe difference between asking for pardon and confessing the sin is\ncontinually exemplified in dealing with children. If a child has done\nany thing wrong, he finds much less difficulty in asking his father to\nforgive him than in openly and unreservedly confessing the wrong. In\nasking for forgiveness, the child may have in his mind a number of\nthings which tend to lessen the sense of the evil,--he may be secretly\nthinking that he was not so much to blame after all, though, to be\nsure, it is only proper to ask his father to forgive him; whereas, in\nconfessing the wrong, there is just the one thing, and that is,\nself-judgment. Further, in asking for forgiveness, the child may be\ninfluenced mainly by a desire to escape the consequences of his wrong;\nwhereas, a judicious parent will seek to produce a just sense of its\nmoral evil, which can only exist in connection with the full\nconfession of the fault--in connection with self-judgment.\n\nThus it is, in reference to God's dealings with His children when they\ndo wrong. He must have the whole thing brought out and thoroughly\njudged. He will make us not only dread the consequences of sin (which\nare unutterable), but hate the thing itself, because of its\nhatefulness in His sight. Were it possible for us, when we commit sin,\nto be forgiven merely for the asking, our sense of sin and our\nshrinking from it would not be nearly so intense, and, as a\nconsequence, our estimate of the fellowship with which we are blessed\nwould not be nearly so high. The moral effect of all this upon the\ngeneral tone of our spiritual constitution, and also upon our whole\ncharacter and practical career, must be obvious to every experienced\nChristian.[9]\n\n [9] The case of Simon Magus, in Acts viii, may present a difficulty to\n the reader. But of him, it is sufficient to say that one \"in the gall\n of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity\" could never be set forth as\n a model for God's dear children. His case in no wise interferes with\n the doctrine of 1 John i. 9. He was not in the relationship of a\n child, and, as a consequence, not a subject of the advocacy. I would\n further add, that the subject of the Lord's prayer is by no means\n involved in what is stated above. I wish to confine myself to the\n immediate passage under consideration. We must ever avoid laying down\n iron rules. A soul may cry to God under any circumstances, and ask for\n what it needs: He is ever ready to hear and answer.\n\nThis entire train of thought is intimately connected with, and fully\nborne out by, two leading principles laid down in \"the law of the\npeace-offering.\"\n\nIn verse 13 of the seventh of Leviticus we read, \"He shall offer for\nhis offering _leavened_ bread;\" and yet at verse 20 we read, \"But the\nsoul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings,\nthat pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness _upon_ him, even\nthat soul shall be cut off from his people.\" Here, we have the two\nthings clearly set before us, namely, sin _in_ us and sin _on_ us.\n\"Leaven\" was permitted, because there was sin in the worshiper's\nnature: \"uncleanness\" was forbidden, because there should be no sin on\nthe worshiper's conscience. If sin be in question, communion must be\nout of the question. God has met and provided for the sin, which He\nknows to be in us, by the blood of atonement; and hence, of the\nleavened bread in the peace-offering, we read, \"Of it he shall offer\none out of the whole oblation for a heave offering unto the Lord, and\nit shall be _the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the\npeace-offerings_.\" (Ver. 14.) In other words, the \"leaven\" in the\nworshiper's nature was perfectly met by the \"blood\" of the sacrifice.\nThe priest who gets the leavened bread must be the sprinkler of the\nblood. God has put our sin out of His sight forever. Though it be in\nus, it is not the object on which His eye rests. He sees only the\nblood, and therefore He can go on with us, and allow us the most\nunhindered fellowship with Him. But if we allow the \"_sin_\" which is\nin us to develop itself in the shape of \"_sins_,\" there must be\nconfession, forgiveness, and cleansing ere we can again eat of the\nflesh of the Peace-offering. The cutting off of the worshiper because\nof ceremonial uncleanness, answers to the suspension of the believer's\ncommunion now because of unconfessed sin. To attempt to have\nfellowship with God in our sins would involve the blasphemous\ninsinuation that He could walk in companionship with sin. \"If we say\nthat we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do\nnot the truth.\" (1 John i. 6.)\n\nIn the light of the foregoing line of truth, we may easily see how\nmuch we err when we imagine it to be a mark of spirituality to be\noccupied with our sins. Could sin or sins ever be the ground or\nmaterial of our communion with God? Assuredly not. We have just seen\nthat, so long as sin is the object before us, communion must be\ninterrupted. Fellowship can only be \"in the light;\" and, undoubtedly,\nthere is no sin in the light. There is naught to be seen there save\nthe blood which has put our sins away and brought us nigh, and the\nAdvocate which keeps us nigh. Sin has been forever obliterated from\nthat platform on which God and the worshiper stand in hallowed\nfellowship. What was it which constituted the material of communion\nbetween the father and the prodigal? Was it the rags of the latter?\nWas it the husks of \"the far country\"? By no means. It was not any\nthing that the prodigal brought with him: it was the rich provision of\nthe father's love--\"the fatted calf.\" Thus it is with God and every\ntrue worshiper. They feed together, in holy and elevated communion,\nupon Him whose precious blood has brought them into everlasting\nassociation, in that light to which no sin can ever approach.\n\nNor need we, for an instant, suppose that true humility is either\nevidenced or promoted by looking at or dwelling upon our sins. An\nunhallowed and melancholy mopishness may thus be superinduced; but the\ndeepest humility springs from a totally different source. Whether was\nthe prodigal a humbler man \"when he came to himself\" in the far\ncountry, or when he came to the father's bosom and the father's house?\nIs it not evident that the grace which elevates us to the loftiest\nheights of fellowship with God is that alone which leads us into the\nmost profound depths of a genuine humility? Unquestionably. The\nhumility which springs from the removal of our sins must ever be\ndeeper than that which springs from the discovery of them. The former\nconnects us with God: the latter has to do with self. The way to be\ntruly humble is to walk with God in the intelligence and power of the\nrelationship in which He has set us. He has made us His children; and\nif only we walk as such, we shall be humble.\n\nEre leaving this part of our subject, I would offer a remark as to the\nLord's Supper, which, as being a prominent act of the Church's\ncommunion, may, with strict propriety, be looked at in connection with\nthe doctrine of the peace-offering. The intelligent celebration of the\nLord's Supper must ever depend upon the recognition of its purely\neucharistic or thanksgiving character. It is very especially a feast\nof thanksgiving--thanksgiving for an accomplished redemption. \"The cup\nof blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of\nChrist? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body\nof Christ?\" (1 Cor. x. 16.) Hence, a soul bowed down under the heavy\nburden of sin cannot, with spiritual intelligence, eat the Lord's\nSupper, inasmuch as that feast is expressive of the complete removal\nof sin by the death of Christ.--\"Ye do show the Lord's death till He\ncome.\" (1 Cor. xi.) In the death of Christ, faith sees the end of\nevery thing that pertained to our old-creation standing; and seeing\nthat the Lord's Supper \"shows forth\" that death, it is to be viewed as\nthe memento of the glorious fact that the believer's burden of sin was\nborne by One who put it away forever. It declares that the chain of\nour sins, which once tied and bound us, has been eternally snapped by\nthe death of Christ, and can never tie and bind us again. We gather\nround the Lord's table in all the joy of conquerors. We look back to\nthe cross, where the battle was fought and won; and we look forward to\nthe glory, where we shall enter into the full and eternal results of\nthe victory.\n\nTrue, we have \"leaven\" _in_ us; but we have no \"uncleanness\" _on_ us.\nWe are not to gaze upon our sins, but upon Him who bore them on the\ncross and put them away forever. We are not to \"deceive ourselves\" by\nthe vain notion \"that we have no sin\" in us; nor are we to deny the\ntruth of God's Word, and the efficacy of Christ's blood, by refusing\nto rejoice in the precious truth that we have no sin on us, for \"the\nblood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.\" It is truly\ndeplorable to observe the heavy cloud that gathers round the Supper of\nthe Lord, in the judgment of so many professing Christians. It tends,\nas much as any thing else, to reveal the immense amount of\nmisapprehension which obtains in reference to the very elementary\ntruths of the gospel. In fact, we know that when the Lord's Supper is\nresorted to on any ground save that of known salvation--enjoyed\nforgiveness--conscious deliverance, the soul becomes wrapped up in\nthicker and darker mists than ever. That which is only a memorial of\nChrist is used to displace Him,--that which celebrates an accomplished\nredemption is used as a stepping-stone thereto. It is thus that the\nordinances are abused, and souls plunged in darkness, confusion, and\nerror.\n\nHow different from this is the beautiful ordinance of the\npeace-offering! In this latter, looked at in its typical import, we\nsee that the moment the blood was shed, God and the worshiper could\nfeed in happy, peaceful fellowship. Nothing more was needed. Peace was\nestablished by the blood, and on that ground the communion proceeded.\nA single question as to the establishment of peace must be the\ndeath-blow to communion. If we are to be occupied with the vain\nattempt to make peace with God, we must be total strangers to either\ncommunion or worship. If the blood of the peace-offering has not been\nshed, it is impossible that we can feed upon \"the wave breast\" or \"the\nheave shoulder.\" But if, on the other hand, the blood has been shed,\nthen peace is made already. God Himself has made it, and this is\nenough for faith; and therefore, by faith, we have fellowship with\nGod, in the intelligence and joy of accomplished redemption. We taste\nthe freshness of God's own joy in that which He has wrought. We feed\nupon Christ in all the fullness and blessedness of God's presence.\n\nThis latter point is connected with and based upon another leading\ntruth laid down in \"the law of the peace-offering.\"--\"And the flesh\nof the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving shall be\neaten the same day that it is offered: he shall not leave any of it\nuntil the morning.\" That is to say, the communion of the worshiper\nmust never be separated from the sacrifice on which that communion is\nfounded. So long as one has spiritual energy to maintain the\nconnection, the worship and communion are also maintained, in\nfreshness and acceptableness; but no longer. _We must keep close to\nthe Sacrifice_, in the spirit of our minds, the affections of our\nhearts, and the experience of our souls. This will impart power and\npermanency to our worship. We may commence some act or expression of\nworship with our hearts in immediate occupation with Christ, and ere\nwe reach the close we may become occupied with what we are doing or\nsaying, or with the persons who are listening to us, and, in this way,\nfall into what may be termed \"iniquity in our holy things.\" This is\ndeeply solemn, and should make us very watchful. We may begin our\nworship in the Spirit and end in the flesh. Our care should ever be,\nnot to suffer ourselves to proceed for a single moment beyond the\nenergy of the Spirit, at the time; for the Spirit will always keep us\noccupied directly with Christ. If the Holy Ghost produces \"five words\"\nof worship or thanksgiving, let us utter the five and have done. If we\nproceed further, we are eating the flesh of our sacrifice beyond the\ntime; and, so far from its being \"accepted,\" it is really \"an\nabomination.\" Let us remember this, and be watchful. It need not\nalarm us. God would have us led by the Spirit, and so filled with\nChrist in all our worship. He can only accept of that which is divine,\nand therefore He would have us presenting that only which is divine.\n\n\"But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow or a\nvoluntary-offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth\nhis sacrifice: and _on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be\neaten_.\" (Chap. vii. 16.) When the soul goes forth to God in a\nvoluntary act of worship, such worship will be the result of a larger\nmeasure of spiritual energy than where it merely springs from some\nspecial mercy experienced at the time. If one had been visited with\nsome marked favor from the Lord's own hand, the soul at once ascends\nin thanksgiving. In this case, the worship is awakened by and\nconnected with that favor or mercy, whatever it may happen to be, and\nthere it ends; but where the heart is led forth by the Holy Ghost in\nsome voluntary or deliberate expression of praise, it will be of a\nmore enduring character. But spiritual worship will always connect\nitself with the precious sacrifice of Christ.\n\n\"The remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice, on the third day, shall\nbe burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his\npeace-offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be\naccepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it\nshall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his\niniquity.\" Nothing is of any value, in the judgment of God, which is\nnot immediately connected with Christ. There may be a great deal of\nwhat looks like worship, which is, after all, the mere excitement and\noutgoing of natural feeling; there may be much apparent devotion,\nwhich is merely fleshly pietism. Nature may be acted upon, in a\nreligious way, by a variety of things, such as pomp, ceremony, and\nparade, tones and attitudes, robes and vestments, an eloquent liturgy,\nall the varied attractions of a splendid ritualism, while there may be\na total absence of spiritual worship. Yea, it not unfrequently happens\nthat the very same tastes and tendencies which are called forth and\ngratified by the splendid appliances of so-called religious worship,\nwould find most suited aliment at the opera or in the concert-room.\n\nAll this has to be watched against by those who desire to remember\nthat \"God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in\nspirit and in truth.\" (John iv.) Religion, so called, is, at this\nmoment, decking herself with her most powerful charms. Casting off the\ngrossness of the middle ages, she is calling to her aid all the\nresources of refined taste, and of a cultivated and enlightened age.\nSculpture, music, and painting are pouring their rich treasures into\nher lap, in order that she may therewith prepare a powerful opiate to\nlull the thoughtless multitude into a slumber, which shall only be\nbroken in upon by the unutterable horrors of death, judgment, and the\nlake of fire. She, too, can say, \"I have _peace-offerings_ with me;\nthis day have I paid my _vows_.... I have decked my bed with\ncoverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I\nhave perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.\" (Prov. vii.)\nThus does corrupt religion allure, by her powerful influence, those\nwho will not hearken to Wisdom's heavenly voice.\n\nReader, beware of all this. See that your worship stands inseparably\nconnected with the work of the cross. See that Christ is the ground,\nChrist the material, and the Holy Ghost the power of your worship.\nTake care that your outward act of worship does not stretch itself\nbeyond the inward power. It demands much watchfulness to keep clear of\nthis evil. Its incipient workings are most difficult to be detected\nand counteracted. We may commence a hymn in the true spirit of\nworship, and, through lack of spiritual power, we may, ere we reach\nthe close, fall into the evil which answers to the ceremonial act of\neating the flesh of the peace-offering on the third day. Our only\nsecurity is in keeping close to Jesus. If we lift up our hearts in\n\"thanksgiving\" for some special mercy, let us do so in the power of\nthe name and sacrifice of Christ. If our souls go forth in \"voluntary\"\nworship, let it be in the energy of the Holy Ghost. In this way shall\nour worship exhibit that freshness, that fragrance, that depth of\ntone, that moral elevation, which must result from having the Father\nas the object, the Son as the ground, and the Holy Ghost as the power\nof our worship.[10]\n\n [10] The statement in the text affords no warrant for the idea that\n our Lord Jesus Christ is not, equally with the Father, the object of\n worship. We utterly abhor and reject such a blasphemy.\n\n Let the reader turn to John v. 23--\"That all men should honor the Son,\n even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth\n not the Father which hath sent Him.\" How can any one, in the face of\n such a passage as this, attempt to teach that it is wrong to present\n worship to the Lord Jesus? Woe be to the man who so teaches! He is\n plainly at issue with God.\n\n Again, look at Rev. v. 12--\"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to\n receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and\n glory, and blessing.\" What mean these words if our Lord Jesus Christ\n is not to be addressed in prayer or worship?\n\n Was the martyr, Stephen, wrong when he said, \"Lord Jesus, receive my\n spirit\"? Was Paul mistaken when he besought the Lord to remove the\n thorn?\n\n But it is needless to multiply passages: the teaching of the inspired\n volume, from cover to cover, establishes, beyond all question, the\n rightness of presenting prayer and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ;\n and therefore all who teach otherwise are in direct opposition to the\n Word of God.\n\nThus may it be, O Lord, with all Thy worshiping people, until we find\nourselves--body, soul, and spirit--in the security of Thine own\neternal presence, beyond the reach of all the unhallowed influences of\nfalse worship and corrupt religion, and also beyond the reach of the\nvarious hindrances which arise from these bodies of sin and death\nwhich we carry about with us!\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOTE.--It is interesting to observe that although the peace-offering\nitself stands third in order, yet \"the law\" thereof is given us last\nof all. This circumstance is not without its import. There is none of\nthe offerings in which the communion of the worshiper is so fully\nunfolded as in the peace-offering. In the burnt-offering, it is Christ\noffering Himself to God. In the meat-offering, we have Christ's\nperfect humanity. Then, passing on to the sin-offering, we learn that\n_sin_, in its root, is fully met. In the trespass-offering, there is a\nfull answer to the actual _sins_, in the life. But in none is the\ndoctrine of the communion of the worshiper unfolded. This latter\nbelongs to \"the peace-offering;\" and hence, I believe, the position\nwhich the law of that offering occupies. It comes in at the close of\nall, thereby teaching us that, when it becomes a question of the\nsoul's feeding upon Christ, it must be a full Christ,--looked at in\nevery possible phase of His life, His character, His Person, His work,\nHis offices; and, furthermore, that, when we shall have done forever\nwith sin and sins, we shall delight in Christ, and feed upon Him,\nthroughout the everlasting ages. It would, I believe, be a serious\ndefect in our study of the offerings were we to pass over a\ncircumstance so worthy of notice as the above. If \"the law of the\npeace-offering\" were given in the order in which the offering itself\noccurs, it would come in immediately after the law of the\nmeat-offering; but instead of that, \"the law of the sin-offering\" and\n\"the law of the trespass-offering\" are given, and then \"the law of the\npeace-offering\" closes the entire.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.-V. 13\n\n\nHaving considered the \"sweet savor\" offerings, we now approach the\n\"sacrifices for sin.\" These were divided into two classes, namely,\nsin-offerings and trespass-offerings. Of the former, there were three\ngrades; first, the offering for \"the priest that is anointed,\" and for\n\"the whole congregation.\" These two were the same in their rites and\nceremonies. (Compare ver. 3-12 with ver. 13-21.) It was the same in\nresult, whether it were the representative of the assembly or the\nassembly itself that sinned. In either case there were three things\ninvolved,--God's dwelling-place in the assembly, the worship of the\nassembly, and individual conscience. Now, inasmuch as all three\ndepended upon the blood, we find, in the first grade of sin-offering,\nthere were three things done with the blood. It was sprinkled \"seven\ntimes before the Lord, _before the vail of the sanctuary_.\" This\nsecured Jehovah's relationship with the people, and His dwelling in\ntheir midst. Again, we read, \"The priest shall put some of the blood\nupon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is\nin the tabernacle of the congregation.\" This secured the worship of\nthe assembly. By putting the blood upon \"the golden altar,\" the true\nbasis of worship was preserved; so that the flame of the incense and\nthe fragrance thereof might continually ascend. Finally, \"He shall\npour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the\nburnt-offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the\ncongregation.\" Here, we have the claims of individual conscience fully\nanswered; for the brazen altar was the place of individual\napproach,--it was the place where God met the sinner.\n\nIn the two remaining grades--for \"a ruler\" or \"one of the common\npeople,\" it was merely a question of individual conscience, and\ntherefore there was only one thing done with the blood,--it was all\npoured \"at the bottom of the altar of burnt-offering.\" (Comp. ver. 7\nwith ver. 25, 30.) There is divine precision in all this, which\ndemands the close attention of my reader, if only he desires to enter\ninto the marvelous detail of this type.[11]\n\n [11] There is this difference between the offering for \"a ruler\" and\n for \"one of the common people:\" in the former, it was \"a _male_\n without blemish;\" in the latter, \"a _female_ without blemish.\" The sin\n of a ruler would necessarily exert a wider influence than that of a\n common person, and therefore a more powerful application of the value\n of the blood was needed. In chapter v. 13, we find cases demanding a\n still lower application of the sin-offering--cases of swearing, and of\n touching any uncleanness, in which \"the tenth part of an ephah of fine\n flour\" was admitted as a sin-offering. (See chap. v. 11-13.) What a\n contrast between the view of atonement presented by a ruler's bullock\n and a poor man's handful of flour! And yet, in the latter, just as\n truly as in the former, we read, \"It shall be forgiven him.\"\n\n The reader will observe that chapter v. 1-13 forms a part of chapter\n iv. Both are comprehended under one head, and present the doctrine of\n the sin-offering in all its applications, from the bullock to the\n handful of flour. Each class of offering is introduced by the words,\n \"And the Lord spake unto Moses.\" Thus, for example, the sweet savor\n offerings (chap. i.-iii.) are introduced by the words, \"The Lord\n called unto Moses.\" These words are not repeated until chapter iv. 1,\n where they introduce the sin-offering. They occur again at chapter v.\n 14, where they introduce the trespass-offering for wrongs done \"in the\n holy things of the Lord;\" and again at chapter vi. 1, where they\n introduce the trespass-offering for wrongs done to one's neighbor.\n\n This classification is beautifully simple, and will help the reader to\n understand the different classes of offering. As to the different\n grades in each class, whether \"a bullock,\" \"a ram,\" \"a female,\" \"a\n bird,\" or \"a handful of flour,\" they would seem to be so many varied\n applications of the same grand truth.\n\nThe effect of individual sin could not extend beyond individual\nconscience. The sin of \"a ruler,\" or of \"one of the common people,\"\ncould not, in its influence, reach \"the altar of incense\"--the place\nof priestly worship; neither could it reach to \"the vail of the\nsanctuary\"--the sacred boundary of God's dwelling-place in the midst\nof His people. It is well to ponder this. We must never raise a\nquestion of personal sin or failure in the place of priestly worship\nor in the assembly; it must be settled in the place of personal\napproach. Many err as to this. They come into the assembly, or into\nthe ostensible place of priestly worship, with their conscience\ndefiled, and thus drag down the whole assembly and mar its worship.\nThis should be closely looked into, and carefully guarded against. We\nneed to walk more watchfully, in order that our conscience may ever be\nin the light. And when we fail, (as, alas! we do in many things,) let\nus have to do with God in secret about our failure, in order that true\nworship and the true position of the assembly may always be kept with\nfullness and clearness before the soul.\n\nHaving said thus much as to the three grades of sin-offering, we shall\nproceed to examine, in detail, the principles unfolded in the first of\nthese. In so doing, we shall be able to form, in some measure, a just\nconception of the principles of all. Before, however, entering upon\nthe direct comparison already proposed, I would call my reader's\nattention to a very prominent point set forth in the second verse of\nthis fourth chapter; it is contained in the expression, \"If a soul\nshall sin through _ignorance_.\" This presents a truth of the deepest\nblessedness, in connection with the atonement of the Lord Jesus\nChrist. In contemplating that atonement, we see infinitely more than\nthe mere satisfaction of the claims of conscience, even though that\nconscience had reached the highest point of refined sensibility. It is\nour privilege to see therein that which has fully satisfied all the\nclaims of divine holiness, divine justice, and divine majesty. The\nholiness of God's dwelling-place, and the ground of His association\nwith His people, could never be regulated by the standard of man's\nconscience, no matter how high the standard might be. There are many\nthings which man's conscience would pass over--many things which might\nescape man's cognizance--many things which his heart might deem all\nright, which God could not tolerate; and which, as a consequence,\nwould interfere with man's approach to, his worship of, and his\nrelationship with God. Wherefore, if the atonement of Christ merely\nmade provision for such sins as come within the compass of man's\napprehension, we should find ourselves very far short of the true\nground of peace. We need to understand that sin has been atoned for,\naccording to God's measurement thereof--that the claims of His throne\nhave been perfectly answered--that sin, as seen in the light of His\ninflexible holiness, has been divinely judged. This is what gives\nsettled peace to the soul. A full atonement has been made for the\nbeliever's sins of ignorance, as well as for his known sins. The\nsacrifice of Christ lays the foundation of his relationship and\nfellowship with God, according to the divine estimate of the claims\nthereof.\n\nA clear sense of this is of unspeakable value. Unless this feature of\nthe atonement be laid hold of, there cannot be settled peace; nor will\nthere be any just moral sense of the extent and fullness of the work\nof Christ, or of the true nature of the relationship founded thereon.\nGod knew what was needed in order that man might be in His presence\nwithout a single misgiving, and He has made ample provision for it in\nthe cross. Fellowship between God and man were utterly impossible if\nsin had not been disposed of according to God's thoughts about it;\nfor, albeit man's conscience were satisfied, the question would ever\nbe suggesting itself, Has God been satisfied? If this question could\nnot be answered in the affirmative, fellowship could never\nsubsist.[12] The thought would be continually intruding itself upon\nthe heart, that things were manifesting themselves in the details of\nlife which divine holiness could not tolerate. True, we might be doing\nsuch things \"through ignorance,\" but this could not alter the matter\nbefore God, inasmuch as all is known to Him. Hence, there would be\ncontinual apprehension, doubt, and misgiving. All these things are\ndivinely met by the fact that sin has been atoned for, not according\nto our \"ignorance,\" but according to God's knowledge. The assurance of\nthis gives great rest to the heart and conscience. All God's claims\nhave been answered by His own work. He Himself has made the provision;\nand therefore the more refined the believer's conscience becomes,\nunder the combined action of the Word and Spirit of God--the more he\ngrows in a divinely-adjusted sense of all that morally befits the\nsanctuary--the more keenly alive he becomes to every thing which is\nunsuited to the divine presence, the fuller, clearer, deeper, and more\nvigorous will be his apprehension of the infinite value of that\nSin-offering which has not only traveled beyond the utmost bounds of\nhuman conscience, but also met, in absolute perfection, all the\nrequirements of divine holiness.\n\n [12] I would desire it to be particularly remembered that the point\n before us in the text is simply atonement. The Christian reader is\n fully aware, I doubt not, that the possession of \"the divine nature\"\n is essential to fellowship with God. I not only need a _title_ to\n approach God, but a _nature_ to enjoy Him. The soul that \"believes in\n the name of the only begotten Son of God\" has both the one and the\n other. (See John i. 12, 13; iii. 36; v. 24; xx. 31; 1 John v. 11-13.)\n\nNothing can more forcibly express man's incompetency to deal with sin\nthan the fact of there being such a thing as a \"sin of ignorance.\" How\ncould he deal with that which he knows not? How could he dispose of\nthat which has never even come within the range of his conscience?\nImpossible. Man's ignorance of sin proves his total inability to put\nit away. If he does not know of it, what can he do about it? Nothing.\nHe is as powerless as he is ignorant. Nor is this all. The fact of a\n\"sin of ignorance\" demonstrates most clearly the uncertainty which\nmust attend upon every settlement of the question of sin, in which no\nhigher claims have been responded to than those put forth by the most\nrefined human conscience. There can never be settled peace upon this\nground. There will always be the painful apprehension that there is\nsomething wrong underneath. If the heart be not led into settled\nrepose by the Scripture testimony that the inflexible claims of divine\nJustice have been answered, there must, of necessity, be a sensation\nof uneasiness, and every such sensation presents a barrier to our\nworship, our communion, and our testimony. If I am uneasy in reference\nto the settlement of the question of sin, I cannot worship, I cannot\nenjoy communion either with God or His people, nor can I be an\nintelligent or effective witness for Christ. The heart must be at rest\nbefore God as to the perfect remission of sin ere we can \"worship Him\nin spirit and in truth.\" If there be guilt on the conscience, there\nmust be terror in the heart; and, assuredly, a heart filled with\nterror cannot be a happy or a worshiping heart. It is only from a\nheart filled with that sweet and sacred repose which the blood of\nChrist imparts, that true and acceptable worship can ascend to the\nFather. The same principle holds good with respect to our fellowship\nwith the people of God and our service and testimony amongst men,--all\nmust rest upon the foundation of settled peace, and this peace rests\nupon the foundation of a perfectly purged conscience, and this purged\nconscience rests upon the foundation of the perfect remission of all\nour sins, whether they be sins of knowledge or sins of ignorance.\n\nWe shall now proceed to compare the sin-offering with the\nburnt-offering, in doing which we shall find two very different\naspects of Christ. But although the aspects are different, it is one\nand the same Christ; and hence the sacrifice in each case was \"without\nblemish.\" This is easily understood. It matters not in what aspect we\ncontemplate the Lord Jesus Christ, He must ever be seen as the same\npure, spotless, holy, perfect One. True, He did, in His abounding\ngrace, stoop to be the Sin-bearer of His people; but it was a perfect,\nspotless Christ who did so; and it would be nothing short of\ndiabolical wickedness to take occasion from the depth of His\nhumiliation to tarnish the personal glory of the humbled One. The\nintrinsic excellence, the unsullied purity, and the divine glory of\nour blessed Lord appear in the sin-offering as fully as in the\nburnt-offering. It matters not in what relationship He stands, what\noffice He fills, what work He performs, what position He occupies, His\npersonal glories shine out in all their divine effulgence.\n\nThis truth of one and the same Christ, whether in the burnt-offering\nor in the sin-offering, is seen not only in the fact that in each\ncase the offering was \"without blemish,\" but also in \"the law of the\nsin-offering,\" where we read, \"This is the law of the sin-offering: In\nthe place where the burnt-offering is killed shall the sin-offering be\nkilled before the Lord: it is most holy.\" (Lev. vi. 25.) Both types\npoint to one and the same great Antitype, though they present Him in\nsuch contrasted aspects of His work. In the burnt-offering, Christ is\nseen meeting the divine affections; in the sin-offering, He is seen\nmeeting the depths of human need. That presents Him to us as the\nAccomplisher of the will of God; this, as the Bearer of the sin of\nman. In the former, we are taught the preciousness of the Sacrifice;\nin the latter, the hatefulness of sin. Thus much as to the two\nofferings, in the main. The most minute examination of the details\nwill only tend to establish the mind in the truth of this general\nstatement.\n\nIn the first place, when considering the burnt-offering, we observed\nthat it was a voluntary offering.--\"He shall offer it of his own\nvoluntary will.\"[13] Now, the word \"voluntary\" does not occur in the\nsin-offering. This is precisely what we might expect. It is in full\nkeeping with the specific object of the Holy Ghost, in the\nburnt-offering, to set it forth as a free-will offering. It was\nChrist's meat and drink to do the will of God, whatever that will\nmight be. He never thought of inquiring what ingredients were in the\ncup which the Father was putting into His hand. It was quite\nsufficient for Him that the Father had mingled it. Thus it was with\nthe Lord Jesus as foreshadowed by the burnt-offering. But in the\nsin-offering, we have quite a different line of truth unfolded. This\ntype introduces Christ to our thoughts, not as the \"voluntary\"\nAccomplisher of the will of God, but as the Bearer of that terrible\nthing called \"sin,\" and the Endurer of all its appalling consequences,\nof which the most appalling to Him was the hiding of God's\ncountenance. Hence, the word \"voluntary\" would not harmonize with the\nobject of the Spirit in the sin-offering. It would be as completely\nout of place in that type as it is divinely in place in the\nburnt-offering. Its presence and its absence are alike divine; and\nboth alike exhibit the perfect, the divine precision of the types of\nLeviticus.\n\n [13] Some may find difficulty in the fact that the word \"voluntary\"\n has reference to the worshiper and not to the sacrifice; but this can\n in no wise affect the doctrine put forward in the text, which is\n founded upon the fact that a special word used in the burnt-offering\n is omitted in the sin-offering. The contrast holds good whether we\n think of the offerer or the offering.\n\nNow, the point of contrast which we have been considering, explains,\nor rather harmonizes, two expressions used by our Lord. He says, on\none occasion, \"The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not\ndrink it?\" And again, \"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass\nfrom Me.\" The former of these expressions was the full carrying out of\nthe words with which He entered upon His course, namely, \"Lo, I come\nto do Thy will, O God;\" and, moreover, it is the utterance of Christ\nas the Burnt-offering. The latter, on the other hand, is the utterance\nof Christ when contemplating the place which He was about to occupy as\nthe Sin-offering. What that place was, and what was involved to Him in\ntaking it, we shall see as we proceed; but it is interesting and\ninstructive to find the entire doctrine of the two offerings involved,\nas it were, in the fact that a single word introduced in the one is\nomitted in the other. If in the burnt-offering we find the perfect\nreadiness of heart with which Christ offered Himself for the\naccomplishment of the will of God, then in the sin-offering we find\nhow perfectly He entered into all the consequences of man's sin, and\nhow He traveled into the most remote distance of man's position as\nregards God. He delighted to do the will of God; He shrank from\nlosing, for a moment, the light of His blessed countenance. No one\noffering could have foreshadowed Him in both these phases. We needed a\ntype to present Him to us as One delighting to do the will of God, and\nwe needed a type to present Him to us as One whose holy nature shrank\nfrom the consequences of imputed sin. Blessed be God, we have both.\nThe burnt-offering furnishes the one; the sin-offering, the other.\nWherefore, the more fully we enter into the devotion of Christ's heart\nto God, the more fully we shall apprehend His abhorrence of sin; and\n_vice versa_. Each throws the other into relief; and the use of the\nword \"voluntary\" in the one and not in the other, fixes the leading\nimport of each.\n\nBut it may be said, Was it not the will of God that Christ should\noffer Himself as an atonement for sin? and if so, how could there be\naught of shrinking from the accomplishment of that will? Assuredly, it\nwas \"the determinate counsel\" of God that Christ should suffer, and,\nmoreover, it was Christ's joy to do the will of God; but how are we to\nunderstand the expression, \"If it be possible, let this cup pass from\nMe\"? Is it not the utterance of Christ? And is there no express type\nof the Utterer thereof? Unquestionably. There would be a serious blank\namong the types of the Mosaic economy were there not one to reflect\nthe Lord Jesus in the exact attitude in which the above expression\npresents Him. But the burnt-offering does not thus reflect Him. There\nis not a single circumstance connected with that offering which would\ncorrespond with such language. The sin-offering alone furnishes the\nfitting type of the Lord Jesus as the One who poured forth those\naccents of intense agony; for in it alone do we find the circumstances\nwhich evoked such accents from the depths of His spotless soul. The\nawful shadow of the cross, with its shame, its curse, and its\nexclusion from the light of God's countenance, was passing across His\nspirit, and He could not even contemplate it without an \"If it be\npossible, let this cup pass from Me.\" But no sooner had He uttered\nthese words than His profound subjection manifests itself in \"Thy will\nbe done.\" What a bitter \"cup\" it must have been to elicit from a\nperfectly subject heart the words, \"Let it pass from Me\"! What\nperfect subjection there must have been, when, in the presence of so\nbitter a cup, the heart could breath forth, \"Thy will be done\"!\n\nWe shall now consider the typical act of \"laying on of hands.\" This\nact was common both to the burnt-offering and the sin-offering; but in\nthe case of the former, it identified the offerer with an unblemished\noffering; in the case of the latter, it involved the transfer of the\nsin of the offerer to the head of the offering. Thus it was in the\ntype; and when we look at the Antitype, we learn a truth of the most\ncomforting and edifying nature--a truth which, were it more clearly\nunderstood and fully experienced, would impart a far more settled\npeace than is ordinarily possessed.\n\nWhat, then, is the doctrine set forth in the laying on of hands? It is\nthis: Christ was \"made sin for us, that we might be made the\nrighteousness of God in Him.\" (2 Cor. v.) He took our position with\nall its consequences, in order that we might get His position with all\nits consequences. He was treated as sin upon the cross, that we might\nbe treated as righteousness in the presence of Infinite Holiness. He\nwas cast out of God's presence because He had sin on Him by\nimputation, that we might be received into God's house and into His\nbosom because we have a perfect righteousness by imputation. He had to\nendure the hiding of God's countenance, that we might bask in the\nlight of that countenance. He had to pass through three hours'\ndarkness, that we might walk in everlasting light. He was forsaken of\nGod for a time, that we might enjoy His presence forever. All that was\ndue to us as ruined sinners was laid upon Him, in order that all that\nwas due to Him as the Accomplisher of redemption might be ours. There\nwas every thing against Him when He hung upon the cursed tree, in\norder that there might be nothing against us. He was identified with\nus in the reality of death and judgment, in order that we might be\nidentified with Him in the reality of life and righteousness. He drank\nthe cup of wrath--the cup of trembling, that we might drink the cup of\nsalvation--the cup of infinite favor. He was treated according to our\ndeserts, that we might be treated according to His.\n\nSuch is the wondrous truth illustrated by the ceremonial act of\nimposition of hands. When the worshiper had laid his hand upon the\nhead of the burnt-offering, it ceased to be a question as to what he\nwas or what He deserved, and became entirely a question of what the\noffering was in the judgment of Jehovah. If the offering was without\nblemish, so was the offerer; if the offering was accepted, so was the\nofferer. They were perfectly identified. The act of laying on of hands\nconstituted them one in God's view. He looked at the offerer through\nthe medium of the offering. Thus it was in the case of the\nburnt-offering. But in the sin-offering, when the offerer had laid his\nhand upon the head of the offering, it became a question of what the\nofferer was, and what he deserved; the offering was treated according\nto the deserts of the offerer. They were perfectly identified. The act\nof laying on of hands constituted them one in the judgment of God. The\nsin of the offerer was dealt with in the sin-offering; the person of\nthe offerer was accepted in the burnt-offering. This made a vast\ndifference. Hence, though the act of laying on of hands was common to\nboth types, and, moreover, though it was expressive, in the case of\neach, of identification, yet were the consequences as different as\npossible. The just treated as the unjust; the unjust accepted in the\njust.--\"Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,\nthat He might bring us to God.\" This is the doctrine. Our sins brought\nChrist to the cross, but He brings us to God. And if He brings us to\nGod, it is in His own acceptableness, as risen from the dead, having\nput away our sins, according to the perfectness of His own work. He\nbore away our sins far from the sanctuary of God, in order that He\nmight bring us nigh, even into the holiest of all, in full confidence\nof heart, having the conscience purged by His precious blood from\nevery stain of sin.\n\nNow, the more minutely we compare all the details of the\nburnt-offering and the sin-offering, the more clearly shall we\napprehend the truth of what has been above stated in reference to the\nlaying on of hands and the results thereof in each case.\n\nIn the first chapter of this volume, we noticed the fact that \"the\nsons of Aaron\" are introduced in the burnt-offering, but not in the\nsin-offering. As priests, they were privileged to stand around the\naltar and behold the flame of an acceptable sacrifice ascending to the\nLord. But in the sin-offering, in its primary aspect, it was a\nquestion of the solemn judgment of sin, and not of priestly worship or\nadmiration, and therefore the sons of Aaron do not appear. It is as\nconvicted sinners that we have to do with Christ as the Antitype of\nthe sin-offering: it is as worshiping priests, clothed in garments of\nsalvation, that we contemplate Christ as the Antitype of the\nburnt-offering.\n\nBut, further, my reader may observe that the burnt-offering was\n\"flayed,\" the sin-offering was not; the burnt-offering was \"cut into\nhis pieces,\" the sin-offering was not; \"the inwards and the legs\" of\nthe burnt-offering were \"washed in water,\" which act was entirely\nomitted in the sin-offering. Lastly, the burnt-offering was burnt upon\nthe altar, the sin-offering was burnt without the camp. These are\nweighty points of difference, arising simply out of the distinctive\ncharacter of the offerings. We know there is nothing in the Word of\nGod without its own specific meaning; and every intelligent and\ncareful student of Scripture will notice the above points of\ndifference, and when he notices them, he will naturally seek to\nascertain their real import. _Ignorance_ of this import there may be,\nbut _indifference_ to it there should not. In any section of\ninspiration, but especially one so rich as that which lies before us,\nto pass over a single point would be to offer dishonor to the divine\nAuthor, and to deprive our own souls of much profit. We should hang\nover the most minute details, either to adore God's wisdom in them, or\nto confess our own ignorance of them. To pass them by, in a spirit of\nindifference, is to imply that the Holy Ghost has taken the trouble to\nwrite what we do not deem worthy of the desire to understand. This is\nwhat no right-minded Christian would presume to think. If the Spirit,\nin writing upon the ordinance of the sin-offering, has omitted the\nvarious rites above alluded to--rites which get a prominent place in\nthe ordinance of the burnt-offering, there must assuredly be some good\nreason for, and some important meaning in, His doing so. These we\nshould seek to apprehend, and no doubt they arise out of the special\ndesign of the divine mind in each offering. The sin-offering sets\nforth that aspect of Christ's work in which He is seen taking\njudicially the place which belonged to us morally. For this reason we\ncould not look for that intense expression of what He was in all His\nsecret springs of action, as unfolded in the typical act of \"flaying.\"\nNeither could there be that enlarged exhibition of what he was, not\nmerely as a whole, but in the most minute features of his character,\nas seen in the act of \"cutting it into his pieces.\" Nor yet could\nthere be that manifestation of what He was personally, practically,\nand intrinsically, as set forth in the significant act of \"washing the\ninwards and legs in water.\"\n\nAll these things belonged to the burnt-offering phase of our blessed\nLord, and to that alone, because in it we see Him offering Himself to\nthe eye, to the heart, and to the altar of Jehovah, without any\nquestion of imputed sin, of wrath, or of judgment. In the\nsin-offering, on the contrary, instead of having, as the great\nprominent idea, what Christ is, we have what sin is,--instead of the\npreciousness of Jesus, we have the odiousness of sin. In the\nburnt-offering, inasmuch as it is Christ Himself offered to and\naccepted by God, we have every thing done that could possibly make\nmanifest what He was in every respect. In the sin-offering, because it\nis sin as judged by God, the very reverse is the case. All this is so\nplain as to need no effort of the mind to understand it. It naturally\nflows out of the distinctive character of the type.\n\nHowever, although the leading object in the sin-offering is to shadow\nforth what Christ became for us, and not what He was in Himself, there\nis nevertheless one rite connected with this type which most fully\nexpresses His personal acceptableness to Jehovah. This rite is laid\ndown in the following words: \"And he shall take off from it all the\nfat of the bullock for the sin-offering; the fat that covereth the\ninwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two\nkidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and\nthe caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away, as\nit was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace-offering;\nand the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt-offering.\"\n(Chap. iv. 8-10.) Thus the intrinsic excellency of Christ is not\nomitted even in the sin-offering. The fat burnt upon the altar is the\napt expression of the divine appreciation of the preciousness of\nChrist's Person, no matter what place He might, in perfect grace, take\non our behalf or in our stead. He was made sin for us, and the\nsin-offering is the divinely appointed shadow of Him in this respect;\nbut inasmuch as it was the Lord Jesus Christ--God's Elect, His Holy\nOne--His pure, His spotless, His eternal Son that was made sin,\ntherefore the fat of the sin-offering was burnt upon the altar, as a\nproper material for that fire which was the impressive exhibition of\ndivine holiness.\n\nBut even in this very point we see what a contrast there is between\nthe sin-offering and the burnt-offering. In the case of the latter, it\nwas not merely the fat, but the whole sacrifice that was burnt upon\nthe altar, because it was Christ, without any question of sin-bearing\nwhatever. In the case of the former, there was nothing but the fat to\nbe burnt upon the altar, because it was a question of sin-bearing,\nthough Christ was the Sin-bearer. The divine glories of Christ's\nPerson shine out even from amid the darkest shades of that cursed tree\nto which He consented to be nailed as a curse for us. The hatefulness\nof that with which, in the exercise of divine love, He connected His\nblessed Person on the cross, could not prevent the sweet odor of His\npreciousness from ascending to the throne of God. Thus have we\nunfolded to us the profound mystery of God's face hidden from that\nwhich Christ _became_, and God's heart refreshed by what Christ _was_.\nThis imparts a peculiar charm to the sin-offering. The bright beams of\nChrist's Personal glory shining out from amid the awful gloom of\nCalvary--His Personal worth set forth in the very deepest depths of\nHis humiliation--God's delight in the One from whom He had, in\nvindication of His inflexible justice and holiness, to hide His\nface--all this is set forth in the fact that the fat of the\nsin-offering was burnt upon the altar.\n\nHaving thus endeavored to point out, in the first place, what was done\nwith \"the blood,\" and, in the second place, what was done with \"the\nfat,\" we have now to consider what was done with \"the flesh.\" \"And the\nskin of the bullock, and _all his flesh_, ... even _the whole bullock_\nshall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the\nashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the\nashes are poured out shall he be burnt.\" (Ver. 11, 12.) In this act,\nwe have the main feature of the sin-offering--that which distinguished\nit both from the burnt-offering and the peace-offering. Its flesh was\nnot burnt upon the altar as in the burnt-offering, neither was it\neaten by the priest or the worshiper as in the peace-offering; it was\nwholly burnt without the camp.[14] \"No sin-offering, whereof any of\nthe blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to\nreconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt\nin the fire.\" (Lev. vi. 30.) \"For the bodies of those beasts, whose\nblood is brought into the sanctuary by the high-priest for sin, are\nburned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify\nthe people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.\" (Heb. xiii.\n11, 12.)\n\n [14] The statement in the text refers only to the sin-offerings of\n which the blood was brought into the holy place. There were\n sin-offerings of which Aaron and his _sons_ partook. (See Lev. vi. 26,\n 29; Numb. xviii. 9, 10.)\n\nNow, in comparing what was done with the \"blood\" with what was done\nwith the \"flesh,\" or \"body,\" of the sacrifice, two great branches of\ntruth present themselves to our view, namely, worship and\ndiscipleship. The blood brought into the sanctuary is the foundation\nof the former; the body burnt outside the camp is the foundation of\nthe latter. Before ever we can worship in peace of conscience and\nliberty of heart, we must know, on the authority of the Word, and by\nthe power of the Spirit, that the entire question of _sin_ has been\nforever settled by the blood of the divine Sin-offering--that His\nblood has been sprinkled perfectly before the Lord--that all God's\nclaims, and all our necessities as ruined and guilty sinners, have\nbeen forever answered. This gives perfect peace; and, in the enjoyment\nof this peace, we worship God. When an Israelite of old had offered\nhis sin-offering, his conscience was set at rest, in so far as the\noffering was capable of imparting rest. True, it was but a temporary\nrest, being the fruit of a temporary sacrifice; but, clearly, whatever\nkind of rest the offering was fitted to impart, that the offerer might\nenjoy. Hence, therefore, our Sacrifice being divine and eternal, our\nrest is divine and eternal also. As is the sacrifice, such is the rest\nwhich is founded thereon. A Jew never had an eternally purged\nconscience, simply because he had not an eternally efficacious\nsacrifice. He might, in a certain way, have his conscience purged for\na day, a month, or a year; but he could not have it purged forever.\n\"But Christ being come a High-Priest of good things to come, by a\ngreater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to\nsay, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves,\nbut by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having\nobtained _eternal_ redemption. For if the blood of bulls and of goats,\nand the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the\npurifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who\nthrough the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge\nyour conscience from dead works to serve the living God?\" (Heb. ix.\n11-14.)\n\nHere, we have the full, explicit statement of the doctrine. The blood\nof goats and calves procured a temporary redemption: the blood of\nChrist procures eternal redemption. The former purified outwardly; the\nlatter, inwardly. That purged the flesh for a time; this, the\nconscience forever. The whole question hinges, not upon the character\nor condition of the offerer, but upon the value of the offering. The\nquestion is not, by any means, whether a Christian is a better man\nthan a Jew, but whether the blood of Christ is better than the blood\nof a bullock. Assuredly, it is better. How much better? Infinitely\nbetter. The Son of God imparts all the dignity of His own divine\nPerson to the sacrifice which He offered; and if the blood of a\nbullock purified the flesh for a year, \"how much more\" shall the blood\nof the Son of God purge the conscience forever?--if that took away\n_some_ sin, how much more shall this take away \"_all_\"?\n\nNow, why was the mind of a Jew set at rest, for the time being, when\nhe had offered his sin-offering? How did he know that the special sin\nfor which he had brought his sacrifice was forgiven? Because God had\nsaid, \"It shall be forgiven him.\" His peace of heart, in reference to\nthat particular sin, rested upon the testimony of the God of Israel\nand the blood of the victim. So now, the peace of the believer, in\nreference to \"ALL SIN,\" rests upon the authority of God's word and\n\"the precious blood of Christ.\" If a Jew had sinned, and neglected to\nbring his sin-offering, he should have been \"cut off from among his\npeople;\" but when he took his place as a sinner--when he laid his hand\nupon the head of a sin-offering, then the offering was \"cut off\"\ninstead of him, and he was free, so far. The offering was treated as\nthe offerer deserved; and hence, for him not to know that his sin was\nforgiven him, would have been to make God a liar, and to treat the\nblood of the divinely appointed sin-offering as nothing.\n\nAnd if this were true in reference to one who had only the blood of a\ngoat to rest upon, \"how much more\" powerfully does it apply to one\nwho has the precious blood of Christ to rest upon? The believer sees\nin Christ One who has been judged for all his sin--One who, when He\nhung upon the cross, sustained the entire burden of his sin--One who,\nhaving made Himself responsible for that sin, could not be where He\nnow is if the whole question of sin had not been settled according to\nall the claims of Infinite Justice. So absolutely did Christ take the\nbeliever's place on the cross--so entirely was he identified with\nHim--so completely was all the believer's sin imputed to Him, there\nand then, that all question of the believer's liability--all thought\nof his guilt--all idea of his exposure to judgment and wrath, is\neternally set aside.[15] It was all settled on the cursed tree,\nbetween Divine Justice and the spotless Victim. And now the believer\nis as absolutely identified with Christ on the throne, as Christ was\nidentified with him on the cross. Justice has no charge to bring\nagainst the believer, because it has no charge to bring against\nChrist. Thus it stands forever. If a charge could be preferred against\nthe believer, it would be calling in question the reality of Christ's\nidentification with him on the cross, and the perfectness of Christ's\nwork on his behalf. If, when the worshiper of old was on his way\nback, after having offered his sin-offering, any one had charged him\nwith that special sin for which his sacrifice had bled, what would\nhave been his reply? Just this: The sin has been rolled away by the\nblood of the victim, and Jehovah has pronounced the words, \"It shall\nbe forgiven him.\" The victim had died instead of him, and he lived\ninstead of the victim.\n\n [15] We have a singularly beautiful example of the divine accuracy of\n Scripture in 2 Cor. v. 21.--\"He hath _made_ Him to be sin [\u03b1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd\n \u03b5\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b7\u03c3\u03b5\u03bd] for us, that we might _become_ [\u03b3\u03b9\u03bd\u03c9\u03bc\u03b5\u03b8\u03b1] the\n righteousness of God in Him.\" The English reader might suppose tha\n the word which is rendered \"made\" is the same in each clause of the\n passage. This is not the case.\n\nSuch was the type. And as to the Antitype, when the eye of faith rests\non Christ as the Sin-offering, it beholds Him as One who having\nassumed a perfect human life, gave up that life on the cross, because\nsin was there and then attached to it by imputation. But it beholds\nHim also as One who having in Himself the power of divine and eternal\nlife, rose from the tomb therein, and who now imparts this His risen,\nHis divine, His eternal life to all who believe in His name. The sin\nis gone, because the life to which it was attached is gone. And now,\ninstead of the life to which sin was attached, all true believers\npossess the life to which righteousness attaches. The question of sin\ncan never once be raised, in reference to the risen and victorious\nlife of Christ; but this is the life which believers possess. There is\nno other life. All beside is death, because all beside is under the\npower of sin. \"He that hath the Son hath life,\" and he that hath life\nhath righteousness also. The two things are inseparable, because\nChrist is both the one and the other. If the judgment and death of\nChrist upon the cross were realities, then the life and righteousness\nof the believer are realities; if imputed sin was a reality to\nChrist, imputed righteousness is a reality to the believer. The one is\nas real as the other; for if not, Christ would have died in vain. The\ntrue and irrefragable ground of peace is this,--that the claims of\nGod's nature have been perfectly met as to sin. The death of Jesus has\nsatisfied them all--satisfied them forever. What is it that proves\nthis to the satisfaction of the awakened conscience? The great fact of\nresurrection. A risen Christ declares the full deliverance of the\nbeliever--his perfect discharge from every possible demand.--\"He was\ndelivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification.\"\n(Rom. iv. 25.) For a Christian not to know that his sin is gone, and\ngone forever, is to cast a slight upon the blood of his divine\nSin-offering; it is to deny that there has been the perfect\npresentation--the sevenfold sprinkling of the blood before the Lord.\n\nAnd now, ere turning from this fundamental point which has been\noccupying us, I would desire to make an earnest and a most solemn\nappeal to my reader's heart and conscience. Let me ask you, dear\nfriend, have you been led to repose on this holy and happy foundation?\nDo you know that the question of your sin has been forever disposed\nof? Have you laid your hand, by faith, on the head of the\nSin-offering? Have you seen the atoning blood of Jesus rolling away\nall your guilt, and carrying it into the mighty waters of God's\nforgetfulness? Has Divine Justice any thing against you? Are you free\nfrom the unutterable horrors of a guilty conscience? Do not, I pray\nyou, rest satisfied until you can give a joyous answer to these\ninquiries. Be assured of it, it is the happy privilege of the feeblest\nbabe in Christ to rejoice in a full and everlasting remission of sins,\non the ground of a finished atonement; and hence, for any to teach\notherwise, is to lower the sacrifice of Christ to the level of \"goats\nand calves.\" If we cannot know that our sins are forgiven, then where\nare the glad tidings of the gospel? Is a Christian in no wise better\noff, in the matter of a sin-offering, than a Jew? The latter was\nprivileged to know that his matters were set straight for a year, by\nthe blood of an annual sacrifice. Can the former not have any\ncertainty at all? Unquestionably. Well, then, if there is any\ncertainty, it must be eternal, inasmuch as it rests on an eternal\nsacrifice.\n\nThis, and this alone, is the basis of worship. The full assurance of\nsin put away ministers, not to a spirit of self-confidence, but to a\nspirit of praise, thankfulness, and worship. It produces, not a spirit\nof self-complacency, but of Christ-complacency, which, blessed be God,\nis the spirit which shall characterize the redeemed throughout\neternity. It does not lead one to think little of sin, but to think\nmuch of the grace which has perfectly pardoned it, and of the blood\nwhich has perfectly canceled it. It is impossible that any one can\ngaze on the cross--can see the place which Christ took--can meditate\nupon the sufferings which He endured--can ponder on those three\nterrible hours of darkness, and at the same time think lightly of\nsin. When all these things are entered into, in the power of the Holy\nGhost, there are two results which must follow, namely, an abhorrence\nof sin in all its forms, and a genuine love to Christ, His people, and\nHis cause.\n\nLet us now consider what was done with the \"flesh,\" or \"body,\" of the\nsacrifice, in which, as has been stated, we have the true ground of\ndiscipleship. \"The whole bullock shall he carry forth, _without the\ncamp_, unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn\nhim on the wood with fire.\" (Chap. iv. 12.) This act is to be viewed\nin a double way; first, as expressing the place which the Lord Jesus\ntook for us as bearing sin; secondly, as expressing the place into\nwhich He was cast by a world which had rejected Him. It is to this\nlatter point that I would here call my reader's attention.\n\nThe use which the apostle, in Heb. xiii, makes of Christ's having\n\"suffered without the gate,\" is deeply practical.--\"Let us go forth\ntherefore _unto Him_ without the camp, _bearing His reproach_.\" If the\nsufferings of Christ have secured us an entrance into heaven, the\nplace where He suffered expresses our rejection from earth. His death\nhas procured us a city on high; the place where He died divests us of\na city below.[16] \"He suffered without the gate,\" and, in so doing,\nHe set aside Jerusalem as the present centre of divine operation.\nThere is no such thing now as a consecrated spot on the earth. Christ\nhas taken His place, as a suffering One, outside the range of this\nworld's religion, its politics, and all that pertains to it. The world\nhated Him and cast Him out. Wherefore, the word is, \"_Go forth_.\" This\nis the motto as regards every thing that men would set up here in the\nform of a \"camp,\" no matter what that camp may be. If men set up \"a\nholy city,\" you must look for a rejected Christ \"without the gate.\" If\nmen set up a religious camp, call it by what name you please, you must\n\"go forth\" out of it, in order to find a rejected Christ. It is not\nthat blind superstition will not grope amid the ruins of Jerusalem in\nsearch of relics of Christ. It assuredly will do so, and has done so.\nIt will affect to find out and do honor to the site of His cross and\nto His sepulchre. Nature's covetousness, too, taking advantage of\nnature's superstition, has carried on for ages a lucrative traffic,\nunder the crafty plea of doing honor to the so-called sacred\nlocalities of antiquity. But a single ray of light from Revelation's\nheavenly lamp is sufficient to enable us to say that you must \"go\nforth\" of all these things, in order to find and enjoy communion with\na rejected Christ.\n\n [16] The epistle to the Ephesians furnishes the most elevated view of\n the Church's place above, and gives it to us, not merely as to the\n title, but also as to the mode. The title is assuredly the blood; but\n the mode is thus stated: \"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great\n love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath\n quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath\n raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in\n Christ Jesus.\" (Eph. ii. 4-6.)\n\nHowever, my reader will need to remember that there is far more\ninvolved in the soul-stirring call to \"go forth\" than a mere escape\nfrom the gross absurdities of an ignorant superstition, or the\ndesigns of a crafty covetousness. There are many who can powerfully\nand eloquently expose all such things, who are very far indeed from\nany thought of responding to the apostolic summons. When men set up a\n\"camp,\" and rally round a standard on which is emblazoned some\nimportant dogma of truth, or some valuable institution--when they can\nappeal to an orthodox creed--an advanced and enlightened scheme of\ndoctrine--a splendid ritual, capable of satisfying the most ardent\naspirations of man's devotional nature--when any or all of these\nthings exist, it demands much spiritual intelligence to discern the\nreal force and proper application of the words, \"Let us go forth,\" and\nmuch spiritual energy and decision to act upon them. They should,\nhowever, be discerned and acted upon, for it is perfectly certain that\nthe atmosphere of a camp, let its ground or standard be what it may,\nis destructive of personal communion with a rejected Christ; and no\nso-called religious advantage can ever make up for the loss of that\ncommunion. It is the tendency of our hearts to drop into cold\nstereotyped forms. This has ever been the case in the professing\nchurch. These forms may have originated in real power; they may have\nresulted from positive visitations of the Spirit of God. The\ntemptation is to stereotype the form when the spirit and power have\nall departed. This is, in principle, to set up a camp. The Jewish\nsystem could boast a divine origin. A Jew could triumphantly point to\nthe temple, with its splendid system of worship, its priesthood, its\nsacrifices, its entire furniture, and show that it had all been handed\ndown from the God of Israel. He could give chapter and verse, as we\nsay, for every thing connected with the system to which he was\nattached. Where is the system, ancient, medieval, or modern, that\ncould put forth such lofty and powerful pretensions, or come down upon\nthe heart with such an overwhelming weight of authority? And yet, the\ncommand was to \"GO FORTH.\"\n\nThis is a deeply solemn matter. It concerns us all, because we are all\nprone to slip away from communion with a living Christ and sink into\ndead routine. Hence the practical power of the words, \"Go forth\ntherefore unto _Him_.\" It is not, Go forth from one system to\nanother--from one set of opinions to another--from one company of\npeople to another. No; but, Go forth from every thing that merits the\nappellation of a camp, \"_to Him_\" who \"suffered without the gate.\" The\nLord Jesus is as thoroughly outside the gate now as He was when He\nsuffered there eighteen centuries ago. What was it that put Him\noutside? \"The religious world\" of that day; and the religious world of\nthat day is, in spirit and principle, the religious world of the\npresent moment. The world is the world still. \"There is nothing new\nunder the sun.\" Christ and the world are not one. The world has\ncovered itself with the cloak of Christianity; but it is only in order\nthat its hatred to Christ may work itself up into more deadly forms\nunderneath. Let us not deceive ourselves. If we will walk with a\nrejected Christ, we must be a rejected people. If our Master \"suffered\n_without_ the gate,\" we cannot expect to reign _within_ the gate. If\nwe walk in His footsteps, whither will they lead us? Surely, not to\nthe high places of this Godless, Christless world.\n\n \"His path, uncheered by earthly smiles,\n Led only to the cross.\"\n\nHe is a despised Christ--a rejected Christ--a Christ outside the camp.\nOh, then, dear Christian reader, let us go forth to Him, bearing His\nreproach. Let us not bask in the sunshine of this world's favor,\nseeing it crucified, and still hates with an unmitigated hatred, the\nbeloved One to whom we owe our present and eternal all, and who loves\nus with a love which many waters cannot quench. Let us not, directly\nor indirectly, accredit that thing which calls itself by His sacred\nname, but, in reality, hates His Person, hates His ways, hates His\ntruth, hates the bare mention of His advent. Let us be faithful to an\nabsent Lord. Let us live for Him who died for us. While our\nconsciences repose in His blood, let our heart's affections entwine\nthemselves around His Person; so that our separation from \"this\npresent evil world\" may not be merely a matter of cold principle, but\nan affectionate separation, because the object of our affections is\nnot here. May the Lord deliver us from the influence of that\nconsecrated, prudential selfishness so common at the present time,\nwhich would not be without religiousness, but is the enemy of the\ncross of Christ. What we want, in order to make a successful stand\nagainst this terrible form of evil, is not peculiar views, or special\nprinciples, or curious theories, or cold intellectual accuracy: we\nwant a deep-toned devotedness to the Person of the Son of God, a\nwhole-hearted consecration of ourselves--body, soul, and spirit--to\nHis service, an earnest longing for His glorious advent. These, my\nreader, are the special wants of the times in which you and I live.\nWill you not, then, join in uttering, from the very depths of your\nheart, the cry, \"O Lord, revive Thy work!\"--\"Accomplish the number of\nThine elect!\"--\"Hasten Thy kingdom!\"--\"Come, Lord Jesus, come!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. 14-VI. 7\n\n\nThese verses contain the doctrine of the trespass-offering, of which\nthere were two distinct kinds, namely, trespass against _God_, and\ntrespass against _man_. \"If a soul commit a trespass, and sin _through\nignorance_, in the holy things of the Lord, then shall he bring for\nhis trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flocks,\nwith thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the\nsanctuary, for a trespass-offering.\" Here we have a case in which a\npositive wrong was done, in the holy things which pertained unto the\nLord; and, albeit this was done \"through ignorance,\" yet could it not\nbe passed over. God can forgive all manner of trespass, but He cannot\npass over a single jot or tittle. His grace is perfect, and therefore\nHe can forgive _all_: His holiness is perfect, and therefore He\ncannot pass over any thing. He cannot sanction iniquity, but He can\nblot it out; and that, moreover, according to the perfection of His\ngrace, and according to the perfect claims of His holiness.\n\nIt is a very grave error to suppose that, provided a man acts up to\nthe dictates of his conscience, he is all right and safe. The peace\nwhich rests upon such a foundation as this will be eternally destroyed\nwhen the light of the judgment-seat shines in upon the conscience. God\ncould never lower His claim to such a level. The balances of the\nsanctuary are regulated by a very different scale from that afforded\nby the most sensitive conscience. We have had occasion to dwell upon\nthis point before, in the notes on the sin-offering. It cannot be too\nstrongly insisted upon. There are two things involved in it,--first, a\njust perception of what the holiness of God really is; and secondly, a\nclear sense of the ground of a believer's peace in the divine\npresence.\n\nWhether it be a question of my condition or my conduct--my nature or\nmy acts--God alone can be the Judge of what suits Himself, and of what\nbefits His holy presence. Can human ignorance furnish a plea when\ndivine requirements are in question? God forbid. A wrong has been done\n\"in the holy things of the Lord,\" but man's conscience has not taken\ncognizance of it. What then? Is there to be nothing more about it? Are\nthe claims of God to be thus lightly disposed of? Assuredly not. This\nwould be subversive of every thing like divine relationship. The\nrighteous are called to give thanks at the remembrance of God's\nholiness. (Ps. xcvii. 12.) How can they do this? Because their peace\nhas been secured on the ground of the full vindication and perfect\nestablishment of that holiness. Hence, the higher their sense of what\nthat holiness is, the deeper and more settled must be their peace.\nThis is a truth of the most precious nature. The unregenerate man\ncould never rejoice in the divine holiness. His aim would be to lower\nthat holiness, if he could not ignore it altogether. Such an one will\nconsole himself with the thought that God is good, God is gracious,\nGod is merciful; but you will never find him rejoicing in the thought\nthat God is holy. He has unholy thoughts respecting God's goodness,\nHis grace, and His mercy. He would fain find in those blessed\nattributes an excuse for his continuing in sin.\n\nOn the contrary, the renewed man exults in the holiness of God. He\nsees the full expression thereof in the cross of the Lord Jesus\nChrist. It is that holiness which has laid the foundation of his\npeace; and not only so, but he is made a partaker of it, and he\ndelights in it, while he hates sin with a perfect hatred. The\ninstincts of the divine nature shrink from it, and long after\nholiness. It would be impossible to enjoy true peace and liberty of\nheart if one did not know that all the claims connected with \"the holy\nthings of the Lord\" had been perfectly met by our divine\nTrespass-offering. There would ever be springing up in the heart the\npainful sense that those claims had been slighted, through our\nmanifold infirmities and shortcomings. Our very best services, our\nholiest seasons, our most hallowed exercises, may present something of\ntrespass \"in the holy things of the Lord\"--\"something that ought not\nto be done.\" How often are our seasons of public worship and private\ndevotion infringed upon and marred by barrenness and distraction!\nHence it is that we need the assurance that our trespasses have all\nbeen divinely met by the precious blood of Christ. Thus, in the\never-blessed Lord Jesus, we find One who has come down to the full\nmeasure of our necessities as sinners by nature, and trespassers in\nact. We find in Him the perfect answer to all the cravings of a guilty\nconscience, and to all the claims of Infinite Holiness, in reference\nto _all_ our sins and _all_ our trespasses; so that the believer can\nstand, with an uncondemning conscience and emancipated heart, in the\nfull light of that holiness which is too pure to behold iniquity or\nlook upon sin.\n\n\"And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy\nthing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the\npriest; and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of\nthe trespass-offering, and it shall be forgiven him.\" (Chap. v. 16.)\nIn the addition of \"the fifth part,\" as here set forth, we have a\nfeature of the true Trespass-offering which, it is to be feared, is\nbut little appreciated. When we think of all the wrong and all the\ntrespass which we have done against the Lord, and, further, when we\nremember how God has been wronged of His rights in this wicked world,\nwith what interest can we contemplate the work of the cross as that\nwherein God has not merely received back what was lost, but whereby He\nis an actual gainer. He has gained more by redemption than ever He\nlost by the fall. He reaps a richer harvest of glory, honor, and\npraise in the fields of redemption than ever He could have reaped from\nthose of creation. \"The sons of God\" could raise a loftier song of\npraise around the empty tomb of Jesus than ever they raised in view of\nthe Creator's accomplished work. The wrong has not only been perfectly\natoned for, but an eternal advantage has been gained by the work of\nthe cross. This is a stupendous truth. God is a gainer by the work of\nCalvary. Who could have conceived this? When we behold man, and the\ncreation of which he was lord, laid in ruins at the feet of the enemy,\nhow could we conceive that, from amid those ruins, God should gather\nricher and nobler spoils than any which our unfallen world could have\nyielded? Blessed be the name of Jesus for all this! It is to Him we\nowe it all. It is by His precious cross that ever a truth so amazing,\nso divine, could be enunciated. Assuredly, that cross involves a\nmysterious wisdom \"which none of the princes of this world knew; for\nhad they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.\"\n(1 Cor. ii. 8.) No marvel, therefore, that around that cross, and\naround Him who was crucified thereon, the affections of patriarchs,\nprophets, apostles, martyrs, and saints have ever entwined themselves.\nNo marvel that the Holy Ghost should have given forth that solemn, but\njust, decree, \"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be\nAnathema Maran-atha.\" (1 Cor. xvi. 22.) Heaven and earth shall echo\nforth a loud and an eternal amen to this anathema. No marvel that it\nshould be the fixed and immutable purpose of the divine mind, that \"at\nthe name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and\nthings in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue\nshould confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the\nFather.\" (Phil. ii. 10, 11.)\n\nThe same law in reference to \"the fifth part\" obtained in the case of\na trespass committed against a man, as we read, \"If a soul sin, and\ncommit a trespass _against the Lord_,[17] and lie unto his neighbor in\nthat which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing\ntaken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor; or have found\nthat which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in\nany of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: then it shall be,\nbecause he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that\nwhich he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully\ngotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing\nwhich he found, or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he\nshall even restore it in the principal, _and shall add the fifth part\nmore thereto_, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the\nday of his trespass-offering.\" (Chap. vi. 2-5.)\n\n [17] There is a fine principle involved in the expression, \"against\n the Lord.\" Although the matter in question was a wrong done to one's\n neighbor, yet the Lord looked upon it as a trespass against Himself.\n Every thing must be viewed in reference to the Lord. It matters not\n who may be affected, Jehovah must get the first place. Thus, when\n David's conscience was pierced by the arrow of conviction, in\n reference to his treatment of Uriah, he exclaims, \"I have sinned\n _against the Lord_.\" (2 Sam. xii. 13.) This principle does not in the\n least interfere with the injured man's claim.\n\nMan, as well as God, is a positive gainer by the cross. The believer\ncan say, as he gazes upon that cross, Well, it matters not how I have\nbeen wronged--how I have been trespassed against--how I have been\ndeceived--what ills have been done to me, I am a gainer by the cross.\nI have not merely received back all that was lost, but much more\nbeside.\n\nThus, whether we think of the injured or the injurer, in any given\ncase, we are equally struck with the glorious triumphs of redemption,\nand the mighty practical results which flow from that gospel which\nfills the soul with the happy assurance that \"all trespasses\" are\n\"forgiven,\" and that the root from whence those trespasses have sprung\nhas been judged. \"The gospel of the glory of the blessed God\" is that\nwhich alone can send forth a man into the midst of a scene which has\nbeen the witness of his sins, his trespasses, and his injurious\nways--can send him back to all who in any wise have been sufferers by\nhis evil doings, furnished with grace, not only to repair the wrongs,\nbut far more, to allow the full tide of practical benevolence to flow\nforth in all his ways--yea, to love his enemies, to do good to them\nthat hate him, and to pray for them that despitefully use him and\npersecute him. Such is the precious grace of God that acts in\nconnection with our great Trespass-offering! such are its rich, rare,\nand refreshing fruits!\n\nWhat a triumphant answer to the caviler who could say, \"Shall we\ncontinue in sin, that grace may abound?\" Grace not merely cuts up sin\nby the roots, but transforms the sinner from a curse, into a\nblessing--from a moral plague, into a channel of divine mercy--from an\nemissary of Satan, into a messenger of God--from a child of darkness,\ninto a son of the light--from a self-indulgent pleasure-hunter, into a\nself-denying lover of God--from a slave of vile, selfish lusts, into a\nwilling-hearted servant of Christ--from a cold, narrow-hearted miser,\ninto a benevolent minister to the need of his fellow-man. Away, then,\nwith the oft-repeated taunts, \"Are we to do nothing?\"--\"That is a\nmarvelously easy way to be saved.\"--\"According to this gospel, we may\nlive as we list.\" Let all who utter such language behold yonder thief\ntransformed into a liberal donor, and let them be silent forever. (See\nEph. iv. 28.) They know not what grace means; they have never felt its\nsanctifying and elevating influences. They forget that, while the\nblood of the trespass-offering cleanses the conscience, the law of\nthat offering sends the trespasser back to the one whom he has\nwronged, with \"the principal\" and \"the fifth\" in his hand. Noble\ntestimony this, both to the grace and righteousness of the God of\nIsrael! Beauteous exhibition of the results of that marvelous scheme\nof redemption, whereby the injurer is forgiven, and the injured\nbecomes an actual gainer! If the conscience has been set to rights, by\nthe blood of the cross, in reference to the claims of God, the conduct\nmust be set to rights, by the holiness of the cross, in reference to\nthe claims of practical righteousness. These things must never be\nseparated; God has joined them together, and let not man put them\nasunder. The hallowed union will never be dissolved by any mind which\nis governed by pure gospel morality. Alas! it is easy to profess the\nprinciples of grace, while the practice and power thereof are\ncompletely denied,--it is easy to talk of resting in the blood of the\nTrespass-offering, while \"the principal\" and \"the fifth\" are not\nforthcoming. This is vain, and worse than vain. \"He that doeth not\nrighteousness is not of God.\" (1 John iii. 10.)\n\nNothing can be more dishonoring to the pure grace of the gospel than\nthe supposition that a man may belong to God while his conduct and\ncharacter exhibit not the fair traces of practical holiness. \"Known\nunto God are all His works,\" no doubt; but He has given us, in His\nholy Word, those evidences by which we can discern those that belong\nto Him. \"The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, 'The\nLord knoweth them that are His.' And, 'Let every one that nameth the\nname of Christ depart from iniquity.'\" (2 Tim. ii. 19.) We have no\nright to suppose that an evil-doer belongs to God. The holy instincts\nof the divine nature are shocked by the mention of such a thing.\nPeople sometimes express much difficulty in accounting for such and\nsuch evil practices on the part of those whom they cannot help\nregarding in the light of Christians. The Word of God settles the\nmatter so clearly and so authoritatively, as to leave no possible\nground for any such difficulty.--\"In this the children of God are\nmanifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not\nrighteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.\"\nIt is well to remember this, in this day of laxity and\nself-indulgence. There is a fearful amount of easy, uninfluential\nprofession abroad, against which the genuine Christian is called upon\nto make a firm stand, and bear a severe testimony--a testimony\nresulting from the steady exhibition of \"the fruits of righteousness\nwhich are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.\" It is\nmost deplorable to see so many going along the beaten path--the\nwell-trodden highway of religious profession, and yet manifesting not\na trace of love or holiness in their conduct. Christian reader, let us\nbe faithful; let us rebuke, by a life of self-denial and genuine\nbenevolence, the self-indulgence and culpable inactivity of\nevangelical, yet worldly, profession. May God grant unto all His\ntrue-hearted people abundant grace for these things!\n\nLet us now proceed to compare the two classes of trespass-offering;\nnamely, the offering on account of trespass \"in the holy things of the\nLord,\" and that which had reference to a trespass committed in the\ncommon transactions and relations of human life. In so doing, we shall\nfind one or two points which demand our attentive consideration.\n\nAnd first, the expression, \"if a soul sin through ignorance,\" which\noccurs in the former, is omitted in the latter. The reason of this is\nobvious. The claims which stand connected with the holy things of the\nLord must pass infinitely beyond the reach of the most elevated human\nsensibility. Those claims may be continually interfered\nwith--continually trespassed upon, and the trespasser not be aware of\nthe fact. Man's consciousness can never be the regulator in the\nsanctuary of God. This is an unspeakable mercy. God's holiness alone\nmust fix the standard when God's rights are in question.\n\nOn the other hand, the human conscience can readily grasp the full\namount of a human claim, and can readily take cognizance of any\ninterference with such claim. How often may we have wronged God, in\nHis holy things, without ever taking a note of it in the tablet of\nconscience--yea, without having the competency to detect it. (See Mal.\niii. 8.) Not so, however, when man's rights are in question. The wrong\nwhich the human eye can see, and the human heart feel, the human\nconscience can take notice of. A man, \"through ignorance\" of the laws\nwhich governed the sanctuary of old, might commit a trespass against\nthose laws without being aware of it, until a higher light had shone\nin upon his conscience; but a man could not \"through ignorance\" tell a\nlie, swear falsely, commit an act of violence, deceive his neighbor,\nor find a lost thing and deny it. These were all plain and palpable\nacts, lying within the range of the most sluggish sensibility. Hence\nit is that the expression, \"through ignorance\" is introduced in\nreference to \"the holy things of the Lord,\" and omitted in reference\nto the common affairs of men. How blessed it is to know that the\nprecious blood of Christ has settled all questions, whether with\nrespect to God or man--our sins of ignorance or our known sins! Here\nlies the deep and settled foundation of the believer's peace. The\ncross has divinely met ALL.\n\nAgain, when it was a question of trespass \"in the holy things of the\nLord,\" the unblemished sacrifice was first introduced; and afterward,\n\"the principal\" and \"the fifth.\" This order was reversed when it was a\nquestion of the common affairs of life. (Comp. chap. v. 15, 16 with\nchap. vi. 4-7.) The reason of this is equally obvious. When the divine\nrights were infringed, the blood of atonement was made the great\nprominent matter; whereas when human rights were interfered with,\nrestitution would naturally assume the leading place in the mind. But\ninasmuch as the latter involved the question of the soul's relation\nwith God as well as the former, therefore the sacrifice is introduced,\nthough it be last in order. If I wrong my fellow-man, that wrong will\nundoubtedly interfere with my communion with God; and that communion\ncan only be restored on the ground of atonement. Mere restitution\nwould not avail; it might satisfy the injured man, but it could not\nform the basis of restored communion with God. I might restore \"the\nprincipal\" and add \"the fifth\" ten thousand times over, and yet my sin\nremain, for \"without shedding of blood is no remission.\" (Heb. ix.\n22.) Still, if it be a question of injury done to my neighbor, then\nrestitution must first be made.--\"If thou bring thy gift to the altar,\nand there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave\nthere thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled\nto thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.\" (Matt. v. 23,\n24.)[18]\n\n [18] From a comparison of Matt. v. 23, 24 with Matt. xviii. 21, 22, we\n may learn a fine principle as to the way in which wrongs and injuries\n are to be settled between two brothers. The injurer is sent back from\n the altar, in order to have his matters set straight with the injured\n one; for there can be no communion with the Father so long as my\n brother \"hath aught against me.\" But then, mark the beauteous way in\n which the injured one is taught to receive the injurer.--\"'Lord, how\n oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven\n times?' Jesus saith unto him, 'I say not unto thee, Until seven times;\n but, _Until seventy times seven_.'\" Such is the divine mode of\n settling all questions between brethren. \"Forbearing one another, and\n forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as\n Christ forgave you, so also do ye.\" (Col. iii. 13.)\n\nThere is far more involved in the divine order prescribed in the\ntrespass-offering than might at first sight appear. The claims which\narise out of our human relations must not be disregarded; they must\never get their proper place in the heart. This is distinctly taught\nin the trespass-offering. When an Israelite had, by an act of\ntrespass, deranged his relation with Jehovah, the order was, sacrifice\nand restitution: when he had, by an act of trespass, deranged his\nrelation with his neighbor, the order was, restitution and sacrifice.\nWill any one undertake to say this is a distinction without a\ndifference? Does the change of the order not convey its own\nappropriate, because divinely appointed, lesson? Unquestionably. Every\npoint is pregnant with meaning, if we will but allow the Holy Ghost to\nconvey that meaning to our hearts, and not seek to grasp it by the aid\nof our poor vain imaginings. Each offering conveys its own\ncharacteristic view of the Lord Jesus and His work, and each is\npresented in its own characteristic order; and, we may safely say, it\nis at once the business and the delight of the spiritual mind to\napprehend both the one and the other. The very same character of mind\nwhich would seek to make nothing of the peculiar order of each\noffering, would also set aside the idea of a peculiar phase of Christ\nin each. It would deny the existence of any difference between the\nburnt-offering and the sin-offering, and between the sin-offering and\nthe trespass-offering, and between any or all of these and the\nmeat-offering or the peace-offering. Hence, it would follow that the\nfirst seven chapters of the book of Leviticus are all a vain\nrepetition, each successive chapter going over the same thing. Who\ncould cede aught so monstrous as this? What Christian mind could\nsuffer such an insult to be offered to the sacred page? A German\nrationalist or neologian may put forth such vain and detestable\nnotions, but those who have been divinely taught that \"all scripture\nis given by inspiration of God,\" will be led to regard the various\ntypes, in their specific order, as so many variously-shaped caskets,\nin which the Holy Ghost has treasured up, for the people of God, \"the\nunsearchable riches of Christ.\" There is no tedious repetition, no\nredundancy. All is rich, divine, heavenly variety; and all we need is\nto be personally acquainted with the great Antitype, in order to enter\ninto the beauties and seize the delicate touches of each type.\nDirectly the heart lays hold of the fact that it is Christ we have in\neach type, it can hang with spiritual interest over the most minute\ndetails, it sees meaning and beauty in every thing, it finds Christ in\nall. As, in the kingdom of nature, the telescope and the microscope\npresent to the eye their own special wonders, so with the Word of God;\nwhether we look at it as a whole, or scrutinize each clause, we find\nthat which elicits the worship and thanksgiving of our hearts.\n\nChristian reader, may the name of the Lord Jesus ever be more precious\nto our hearts! Then shall we value every thing that speaks of\nHim--every thing that sets Him forth--every thing affording a fresh\ninsight into His peculiar excellency and matchless beauty.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOTE.--The remainder of chapter vi, together with the whole of\nchapter vii, is occupied with the law of the various offerings, to\nwhich reference has already been made. There are, however, some points\npresented in the law of the sin-offering and the trespass-offering\nwhich may be noticed ere we leave this copious section of our book.\n\nIn none of the offerings is Christ's personal holiness more strikingly\npresented than in the sin-offering. \"Speak unto Aaron and to his sons,\nsaying, This is the law of the sin-offering: In the place where the\nburnt-offering is killed shall the sin-offering be killed before the\nLord: _it is most holy_.... Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof\n_shall be holy_.... All the males among the priests shall eat thereof:\n_it is most holy_.\" (Chap. vi. 25-29.) So also in speaking of the\nmeat-offering, \"It is most holy, _as is the sin-offering_, and as the\ntrespass-offering.\" This is most marked and striking. The Holy Ghost\ndid not need to guard with such jealousy the personal holiness of\nChrist in the burnt-offering; but lest the soul should, by any means,\nlose sight of that holiness while contemplating the place which the\nblessed One took in the sin-offering, we are again and again reminded\nof it by the words, \"It is most holy.\" Truly edifying and refreshing\nit is to behold the divine and essential holiness of the Person of\nChrist shining forth in the midst of Calvary's profound and awful\ngloom. The same point is observable \"in the law of the\ntrespass-offering.\" (See chap. vii. 1, 6.) Never was the Lord Jesus\nmore fully seen to be \"the Holy One of God\" than when He was \"made\nsin\" upon the cursed tree. The vileness and blackness of that with\nwhich He stood identified on the cross, only served to show out more\nclearly that He was \"most holy.\" Though a sin-bearer, He was sinless;\nthough enduring the wrath of _God_, He was the _Father's_ delight;\nthough deprived of the light of _God's_ countenance, He dwelt in the\n_Father's_ bosom. Precious mystery! Who can sound its mighty depths?\nHow wonderful to find it so accurately shadowed forth in \"the law of\nthe sin-offering\"!\n\nAgain, my reader should seek to apprehend the meaning of the\nexpression, \"All the _males_ among the priests shall eat thereof.\" The\nceremonial act of eating the sin-offering or the trespass-offering was\nexpressive of full identification; but to eat the sin-offering--to\nmake another's sin one's own, demanded a higher degree of priestly\nenergy, such as was expressed in \"the _males_ among the priests.\" \"And\nthe Lord spake unto Aaron, 'Behold, I also have given thee the charge\nof Mine heave-offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of\nIsrael; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and\n_to thy sons_, by an ordinance forever. This shall be thine of the\nmost holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs,\nevery meat-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and\nevery trespass-offering of theirs, which they shall render unto Me,\nshall be most holy for thee and for _thy sons_. In the most holy place\nshalt thou eat it; _every male_ shall eat it: it shall be holy unto\nthee. And this is thine; the heave-offering of their gift, with all\nthe wave-offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto\nthee, and to thy sons and to _thy daughters_ with thee, by a statute\nforever: _every one that is clean_ in thy house shall eat of it.\"\n(Numb. xviii. 8-11.)\n\nIt demanded a larger measure of priestly energy to eat of the sin or\ntrespass-offering than merely to partake of the heave and\nwave-offerings of gift. The \"daughters\" of Aaron could eat of the\nlatter: none but the \"sons\" could eat of the former. In general, \"the\nmale\" expresses a thing according to the divine idea; \"the female,\"\naccording to human development. The former gives you the thing in full\nenergy; the latter, in its imperfections. How few of us have\nsufficient priestly energy to enable us to make another's sin or\ntrespass our own! The blessed Lord Jesus did this perfectly. He made\nHis people's sins His own, and bore the judgment thereof, on the\ncross. He fully identified Himself with us, so that we may know, in\nfull and blessed certainty, that the whole question of sin and\ntrespass has been divinely settled. If Christ's identification was\nperfect, then the settlement was perfect likewise; and that it was\nperfect, the scene enacted at Calvary declares. All is accomplished.\nThe sin, the trespasses, the claims of God, the claims of man--all\nhave been eternally settled; and now, perfect peace is the portion of\nall who, by grace, accept as true the record of God. It is as simple\nas God could make it, and the soul that believes it is made happy.\nThe peace and happiness of the believer depend wholly upon the\nperfection of Christ's sacrifice. It is not a question of his mode of\nreceiving it, his thoughts about it, or his feelings respecting it; it\nis simply a question of his crediting, by faith, the testimony of God\nas to the value of the sacrifice. The Lord be praised for His own\nsimple and perfect way of peace! May many troubled souls be led by the\nHoly Spirit into an understanding thereof?\n\nWe shall here close our meditations upon one of the richest sections\nin the whole canon of inspiration. It is but little we have been\nenabled to glean from it. We have hardly penetrated below the surface\nof an exhaustless mine. If, however, the reader has, for the first\ntime, been led to view the offerings as so many varied exhibitions of\nthe great Sacrifice, and if he is led to cast himself at the feet of\nthe great Teacher, to learn more of the living depths of these things,\nI cannot but feel that an end has been gained for which we may well\nfeel deeply thankful.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS VIII. & IX.\n\n\nHaving considered the doctrine of sacrifice, as unfolded in the first\nseven chapters of this book, we now approach the subject of\npriesthood. The two subjects are intimately connected. The sinner\nneeds a _sacrifice_; the believer needs a _priest_. We have both the\none and the other in Christ, who, having offered Himself without spot\nto God, entered upon the sphere of His priestly ministry in the\nsanctuary above. We need no other sacrifice, no other priest: Jesus is\ndivinely sufficient. He imparts the dignity and worth of His own\nPerson to every office He sustains, and to every work He performs.\nWhen we see Him as a sacrifice, we know that we have in Him all that a\nperfect sacrifice could be; and when we see Him as a priest, we know\nthat every function of the priesthood is perfectly discharged by Him.\nAs a sacrifice, He introduces His people into a settled relationship\nwith God; and as a priest, He maintains them therein, according to the\nperfectness of what He is. Priesthood is designed for those who\nalready stand in a certain relationship with God. As sinners, by\nnature and by practice, we are \"brought nigh to God by the blood of\nthe cross;\" we are brought into an established relationship with Him;\nwe stand before Him as the fruit of His own work. He has put away our\nsins in such a manner as suits Himself, so that we might be before Him\nto the praise of His name, as the exhibition of what He can accomplish\nthrough the power of death and resurrection.\n\nBut though so fully delivered from every thing that could be against\nus--though so perfectly accepted in the Beloved--though so complete in\nChrist--though so highly exalted, yet are we, in ourselves, while down\nhere, poor feeble creatures, ever prone to wander, ready to stumble,\nexposed to manifold temptations, trials, and snares. As such, we need\nthe ceaseless ministry of our \"great High-Priest,\" whose very\npresence in the sanctuary above maintains us in the full integrity of\nthat place and relationship in which, through grace, we stand. \"He\never liveth to make intercession for us.\" (Heb. vii. 25.) We could not\nstand for a moment down here if He were not living for us up there.\n\"Because I live, ye shall live also.\" (John xiv. 19.) \"For if, when we\nwere enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much\nmore, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.\" (Rom. v. 10.)\nThe \"death\" and the \"life\" are inseparably connected in the economy of\ngrace. But, be it observed, the life comes after the death. It is\nChrist's life as risen from the dead, and not His life down here, that\nthe apostle refers to in the last-quoted passage. This distinction is\neminently worthy of my reader's attention. The life of our blessed\nLord Jesus while down here was, I need hardly remark, infinitely\nprecious; but He did not enter upon His sphere of priestly service\nuntil He had accomplished the work of redemption. Nor could He have\ndone so, inasmuch as \"it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda,\nof which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.\" (Heb. vii.\n14.) \"For every high-priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices:\nwherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to\noffer. For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that\nthere are priests that offer gifts according to the law.\" (Heb. viii.\n3, 4.) \"But Christ being come a high-priest of good things to come, by\na greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is\nto say not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves,\nbut by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having\nobtained eternal redemption.... For Christ is not entered into the\nholy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but\ninto heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.\"\n(Heb. ix. 11, 12, 24.)\n\nHeaven, not earth, is the sphere of Christ's priestly ministry; and on\nthat sphere He entered when He had offered Himself without spot to\nGod. He never appeared as a priest in the temple below. He ofttimes\nwent up to the temple to teach, but never to sacrifice or burn\nincense. There never was any one ordained of God to discharge the\nfunctions of the priestly office on earth save Aaron and his sons. \"If\nHe were on earth, He should not be a priest.\" This is a point of much\ninterest and value in connection with the doctrine of priesthood.\nHeaven is the sphere, and accomplished redemption the basis, of\nChrist's priesthood. Save in the sense that all believers are priests\n(1 Pet. ii. 5.), there is no such thing as a priest upon earth. Unless\na man can show his descent from Aaron--unless he can trace his\npedigree up to that ancient source, he has no right to exercise the\npriestly office. Apostolic succession itself, could it be proved,\nwould be of no possible value here, inasmuch as the apostles\nthemselves were not priests, save in the sense above referred to. The\nfeeblest member of the household of faith is as much a priest as the\napostle Peter himself. He is a spiritual priest,--he worships in a\nspiritual temple, he stands at a spiritual altar, he offers a\nspiritual sacrifice, he is clad in spiritual vestments. \"Ye also, as\nlively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to\noffer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.\" (1\nPet. ii. 5.) \"By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise\nto God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to\nHis name. But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such\nsacrifices God is well pleased.\" (Heb. xiii. 15, 16.)\n\nIf one of the direct descendants of the house of Aaron were converted\nto Christ, he would enter upon an entirely new character and ground of\npriestly service. And be it observed, that the passages just quoted\npresent the two great classes of spiritual sacrifice which the\nspiritual priest is privileged to offer. There is the sacrifice of\npraise to God, and the sacrifice of benevolence to man. There is a\ndouble stream continually going forth from the believer who is living\nin the realization of his priestly place--a stream of grateful praise\nascending to the throne of God, and a stream of active benevolence\nflowing forth to a needy world. The spiritual priest stands with one\nhand lifted up to God in the presentation of the incense of grateful\npraise, and the other opened wide to minister, in genuine beneficence,\nto every form of human need. Were these things more distinctly\napprehended, what hallowed elevation and what moral grace would they\nnot impart to the Christian character! Elevation, inasmuch as the\nheart would ever be lifted up to the infinite Source of all that is\ncapable of elevating; moral grace, inasmuch as the heart would ever be\nkept open to all demands upon its sympathies. The two things are\ninseparable. Immediate occupation of heart with God must, of\nnecessity, elevate and enlarge; but, on the other hand, if one walks\nat a distance from God, the heart will become groveling and\ncontracted. Intimacy of communion with God--the habitual realization\nof our priestly dignity, is the only effectual remedy for the downward\nand selfish tendencies of the old nature.\n\nHaving said thus much on the subject of priesthood in general, both as\nto its primary and secondary aspects, we shall proceed to examine the\ncontents of the eighth and ninth chapters of the book of Leviticus.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Take Aaron and his sons with\nhim, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the\nsin-offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; and\ngather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the\ntabernacle of the congregation.' And Moses did as the Lord commanded\nhim; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the\ntabernacle of the congregation.\" There is special grace unfolded here.\nThe whole assembly is convened at the door of the tabernacle of the\ncongregation, in order that all might have the privilege of beholding\nthe one who was about to be intrusted with the charge of their most\nimportant interests. In the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth of Exodus\nwe are taught the same general truth with respect to the vestments and\nsacrifices connected with the priestly office; but in Leviticus, the\nthe congregation is introduced, and allowed to look on at every\nmovement in the solemn and impressive service of consecration. The\nhumblest member of the assembly had his own place. Each one--the\nlowest as well as the highest--was permitted to gaze upon the person\nof the high-priest, upon the sacrifice which he offered, and upon the\nrobes which he wore. Each one had his own peculiar need, and the God\nof Israel would have each to see and know that his need was fully\nprovided for by the varied qualifications of the high-priest who stood\nbefore him. Of these qualifications the priestly robes were the apt\ntypical expression. Each portion of the dress was designed and adapted\nto set forth some special qualification in which the assembly as a\nwhole, and each individual member, would, of necessity, be deeply\ninterested. The coat, the girdle, the robe, the ephod, the\nbreastplate, the Urim and the Thummim, the mitre, the holy crown--all\ntold out the varied virtues, qualifications, and functions of the one\nwho was to represent the congregation and maintain the interests\nthereof in the divine presence.\n\nThus it is the believer can, with the eye of faith, behold his great\nHigh-Priest in the heavens, and see in Him the divine realities of\nwhich the Aaronic vestments were but the shadows. The Lord Jesus\nChrist is the holy One, the anointed One, the mitred One, the girded\nOne. He is all these, not in virtue of outward garments to be put on\nor off, but in virtue of the divine and eternal graces of His Person,\nthe changeless efficacy of His work, and the imperishable virtue of\nHis sacred offices. This is the special value of studying the types of\nthe Mosaic economy. The enlightened eye sees Christ in all. The blood\nof the sacrifice and the robe of the high-priest both point to\nHim--both were designed of God to set Him forth. If it be a question\nof conscience, the blood of the sacrifice meets it, according to the\njust claims of the sanctuary. Grace has met the demand of holiness.\nAnd then, if it be a question of the need connected with the\nbeliever's position down here, he can see it all divinely answered in\nthe official robes of the high-priest.\n\nAnd here let me say, there are two ways in which to contemplate the\nbeliever's position--two ways in which that position is presented in\nthe Word, which must be taken into account ere the true idea of\npriesthood can be intelligently laid hold of. The believer is\nrepresented as being part of a body of which Christ is the Head. This\nbody, with Christ its Head, is spoken of as forming one man, complete\nin every respect. It was quickened with Christ, raised with Christ,\nand in Christ seated in the heavens. It is one with Him, complete in\nHim, accepted in Him, possessing His life, and standing in His favor\nbefore God. All trespasses are blotted out. There is no spot. All is\nfair and lovely beneath the eye of God. (See 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13; Eph.\nii. 5-10; Col. ii. 6-15; 1 John iv. 17.)\n\nThen, again, the believer is contemplated as in the place of need,\nweakness, and dependence down here in this world. He is ever exposed\nto temptation, prone to wander, liable to stumble and fall. As such,\nhe continually stands in need of the perfect sympathy and powerful\nministrations of the High-Priest, who ever appears in the presence of\nGod in the full value of His Person and work, and who represents the\nbeliever and maintains his cause before the throne.\n\nNow, my reader should ponder both these aspects of the believer, in\norder that he may see, not only what a highly exalted and privileged\nplace he occupies with Christ on high, but also what ample provision\nthere is for him in reference to his every need and weakness here\nbelow. This distinction might further be developed in this way:--The\nbeliever is represented as being _of the Church_, and _in the\nkingdom_. As the former, heaven is his place, his home, his portion,\nthe seat of his affections: as the latter, he is on earth, in the\nplace of trial, responsibility, and conflict. Hence, therefore,\npriesthood is a divine provision for those who though being of the\nChurch, and belonging to heaven, are nevertheless in the kingdom, and\nwalking on the earth. This distinction is a very simple one, and,\nwhen apprehended, explains a vast number of passages of Scripture in\nwhich many minds encounter considerable difficulty.[19]\n\n [19] A comparison of the epistle to the Ephesians with the first\n epistle of Peter will furnish the reader with much valuable\n instruction in reference to the double aspect of the believer's\n position. The former shows him as seated in heaven; the latter, as a\n pilgrim and a sufferer on earth.\n\nIn looking into the contents of the chapters which lie open before us,\nwe may remark three things put prominently forward, namely, the\nauthority of the Word, the value of the blood, the power of the\nSpirit. These are weighty matters--matters of unspeakable\nimportance--matters which must be regarded by every Christian as\nunquestionably vital and fundamental.\n\nAnd, first, as to the authority of the Word, it is of the deepest\ninterest to see that in the consecration of the priests, as well as in\nthe entire range of the sacrifices, we are brought immediately under\nthe authority of the Word of God.--\"And Moses said unto the\ncongregation, '_This is the thing which the Lord_ commanded to be\ndone.'\" (Chap. viii. 5.) And again, \"Moses said, '_This is the thing\nwhich the Lord commanded_ that ye should do: _and the glory of the\nLord shall appear unto you_.'\" (Chap. ix. 6.) Let these words sink\ndown into our ears; let them be carefully and prayerfully pondered:\nthey are priceless words.--\"_This_ is _the_ thing which _the Lord_\ncommanded.\" He did not say, This is the thing which is expedient,\nagreeable, or suitable; neither did he say, This is the thing which\nhas been arranged by the voice of the fathers, the decree of the\nelders, or the opinion of the doctors. Moses knew nothing of such\nsources of authority. To him there was one holy, elevated, paramount\nsource of authority, and that was, the Word of Jehovah, and he would\nbring every member of the assembly into direct contact with that\nblessed source. This gave assurance to the heart, and fixedness to all\nthe thoughts. There was no room left for tradition, with its uncertain\nsound, or for man, with his doubtful disputations. All was clear,\nconclusive, and authoritative. Jehovah had spoken; and all that was\nneeded was to hear what He had said, and obey. Neither tradition nor\nexpediency has any place in the heart that has learnt to prize, to\nreverence, and to obey the Word of God.\n\nAnd what was to be the result of this strict adherence to the Word of\nGod? A truly blessed result indeed.--\"The glory of the Lord shall\nappear unto you.\" Had the Word been disregarded, the glory would not\nhave appeared. The two things were intimately connected. The slightest\ndeviation from \"Thus saith Jehovah\" would have prevented the beams of\nthe divine glory from appearing to the congregation of Israel. Had\nthere been the introduction of a single rite or ceremony not enjoined\nby the Word, or had there been the omission of aught which that Word\ncommanded, Jehovah would not have manifested His glory. He could not\nsanction by the glory of His presence the neglect or rejection of His\nWord. He can bear with ignorance and infirmity, but He cannot\nsanction neglect or disobedience.\n\nOh that all this were more solemnly considered, in this day of\ntradition and expediency! I would, in earnest affection, and in the\ndeep sense of personal responsibility to my reader, exhort him to give\ndiligent heed to the importance of close--I had almost said\nsevere--adherence and reverent subjection to the Word of God. Let him\ntry every thing by that standard, and reject all that comes not up to\nit,--let him weigh every thing in that balance, and cast aside all\nthat is not full weight,--let him measure every thing by that rule,\nand refuse all deviation. If I could only be the means of awakening\none soul to a proper sense of the place which belongs to the Word of\nGod, I should feel I had not written my book for naught or in vain.\n\nReader, pause, and, in the presence of the Searcher of hearts, ask\nyourself this plain, pointed question: Am I sanctioning by my\npresence, or adopting in my practice, any departure from, or neglect\nof, the Word of God? Make this a solemn, personal matter before the\nLord. Be assured of it, it is of the very deepest moment--the very\nlast importance. If you find that you have been in any wise connected\nwith, or involved in, aught that wears not the distinct stamp of\ndivine sanction, reject it at once and forever. Yes, reject it, though\narrayed in the imposing vestments of antiquity, accredited by the\nvoice of tradition, and putting forward the almost irresistible plea\nof expediency. If you cannot say, in reference to every thing with\nwhich you stand connected, \"This is the thing which the Lord hath\ncommanded,\" then away with it unhesitatingly, away with it forever.\nRemember these words, \"As He hath done this day, so the Lord hath\ncommanded to do.\" Yes, remember the \"as\" and the \"so;\" see that you\nare connecting them in your ways and associations, and let them never\nbe separated.\n\n\"So Aaron and his sons did _all things which the Lord commanded_ by\nthe hand of Moses.\" (Chap. viii. 36.) \"And Moses and Aaron went into\nthe tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the\npeople: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And\nthere came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the\naltar the burnt-offering and the fat; which, when all the people saw,\nthey shouted and fell on their faces.\" (Chap. ix. 23, 24.) Here we\nhave an \"eighth day\" scene--a scene of resurrection-glory. Aaron,\nhaving offered the sacrifice, lifted up his hands in priestly\nbenediction upon the people; and then Moses and Aaron retire into the\ntabernacle, and disappear, while the whole assembly is seen in waiting\noutside. Finally, Moses and Aaron, representing Christ in His double\ncharacter as Priest and King, come forth, and bless the people; the\nglory appears in all its splendor, the fire consumes the sacrifice,\nand the entire congregation falls prostrate in worship before the\npresence of the Lord of all the earth.\n\nNow, all this was literally enacted at the consecration of Aaron and\nhis sons; and, moreover, all this was the result of strict adherence\nto the Word of Jehovah. But ere I turn from this branch of the\nsubject, let me remind the reader that all that these chapters contain\nis but \"a shadow of good things to come.\" This, indeed, holds good in\nreference to the entire Mosaic economy. (Heb. x. 1.) Aaron and his\nsons together represent Christ and His priestly house; Aaron alone\nrepresents Christ in His sacrificial and intercessory functions; Moses\nand Aaron together represent Christ as King and Priest; \"the eighth\nday\" represents the day of resurrection-glory, when the congregation\nof Israel shall see the Messiah, seated as a Royal Priest upon His\nthrone, and when the glory of Jehovah shall fill the whole earth, as\nthe waters cover the sea. These sublime truths are largely unfolded in\nthe Word, they glitter like gems of celestial brilliancy all along the\ninspired page; but lest they should, to any reader, wear the\nsuspicious aspect of novelty, I shall refer him to the following\ndirect Scripture proofs; viz., Num. xiv. 21; Isaiah ix. 6, 7; xi.;\nxxv. 6-12; xxxii. 1, 2; xxxv.; xxxvii. 31, 32; xl. 1-5; liv.; lix.\n16-21; lx.-lxvi.; _passim_, Jer. xxiii. 5-8; xxx. 10-24; xxxiii. 6-22;\nEzek. xlviii. 35; Dan. vii. 13, 14; Hos. xiv. 4-9; Zeph. iii. 14-20;\nZech. iii. 8-10; vi. 12, 13; xiv.\n\nLet us now consider the second point presented in our section, namely,\nthe efficacy of the blood. This is unfolded with great fullness, and\nput forward in great prominence. Whether we contemplate the doctrine\nof sacrifice or the doctrine of priesthood, we find the shedding of\nblood gets the same important place. \"And he brought the bullock for\nthe sin-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the\nhead of the bullock for the sin-offering. And he slew it; and Moses\ntook the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about\nwith his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the\nbottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon\nit.\" (Chap. viii. 14, 15.) \"And he brought the ram for the\nburnt-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head\nof the ram. And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the\naltar round about.\" (Ver. 18, 19.) \"And he brought the other ram, the\nram of consecration; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the\nhead of the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it,\nand put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of\nhis right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he\nbrought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their\nright ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the\ngreat toes of their right feet; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the\naltar round about.\" (Ver. 22-24.)\n\nThe import of the various sacrifices has been, in some degree,\ndeveloped in the opening chapters of this volume; but the passages\njust quoted serve to show the prominent place which the blood occupies\nin the consecration of the priests. A blood-stained _ear_ was needed\nto hearken to the divine communications, a blood-stained _hand_ was\nneeded to execute the services of the sanctuary, and a blood-stained\n_foot_ was needed to tread the courts of the Lord's house. All this is\nperfect in its way. The shedding of blood was the grand foundation of\nall sacrifice for sin, and it stood connected with all the vessels of\nthe ministry and with all the functions of the priesthood. Throughout\nthe entire range of Levitical service, we observe the value, the\nefficacy, the power, and the wide application of the blood. \"Almost\nall things are by the law purged with blood.\" (Heb. ix. 22.) Christ\nhas entered, by His own blood, into heaven itself. He appears on the\nthrone of the Majesty in the heavens in the value of all that He has\naccomplished on the cross. His presence on the throne attests the\nworth and acceptableness of His atoning blood. He is there _for us_.\nBlessed assurance! He ever liveth. He never changeth; and we are in\nHim, and as He is. He presents us to the Father in His own eternal\nperfectness; and the Father delights in us as thus presented, even as\nHe delights in the One who presents us. This identification is\ntypically set forth in \"Aaron and his sons\" laying their hands upon\nthe head of each of the sacrifices. They all stood before God in the\nvalue of the same sacrifice. Whether it were the \"bullock for the\nsin-offering,\" \"the ram for the burnt-offering,\" or \"the ram of\nconsecration,\" they jointly laid their hands on all. True, Aaron alone\nwas anointed before the blood was shed,--he was clad in his robes of\noffice and anointed with the holy oil before ever his sons were\nclothed or anointed. The reason of this is obvious. Aaron, when spoken\nof by himself, typifies Christ in His own peerless excellency and\ndignity; and, as we know, Christ appeared in all His own personal\nworth and was anointed by the Holy Ghost previous to the\naccomplishment of His atoning work. In all things He has the\npre-eminence. (Col. i.) Still, there is the fullest identification\nafterwards between Aaron and his sons, as there is the fullest\nidentification between Christ and His people. \"The Sanctifier and the\nsanctified are all of one.\" (Heb. ii.) The personal distinctness\nenhances the value of the mystic oneness.\n\nThis truth of the distinctness and yet oneness of the Head and members\nleads us naturally to our third and last point, namely, the power of\nthe Spirit. We may remark how much takes place between the anointing\nof Aaron and the anointing of his sons with him. The blood is shed,\nthe fat consumed on the altar, and the breast waved before the Lord.\nIn other words, the Sacrifice is perfected, the sweet odor thereof\nascends to God, and the One who offered it ascends in the power of\nresurrection, and takes His place on high. All this comes in between\nthe anointing of the Head and the anointing of the members. Let us\nquote and compare the passages. First, as to Aaron alone, we read,\n\"And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and\nclothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded\nhim with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him\ntherewith. And he put the breastplate upon him; also he put in the\nbreastplate the Urim and the Thummim. And he put the mitre upon his\nhead; and upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the\ngolden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses. And Moses\ntook the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was\ntherein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar\nseven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the\nlaver and his foot, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing\noil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.\" (Chap.\nviii. 7-12.)\n\nHere we have Aaron presented alone. The anointing oil is poured upon\nhis head, and that, too, in immediate connection with the anointing of\nall the vessels of the tabernacle. The whole assembly was permitted to\nbehold the high-priest clothed in his official robes, mitred and\nanointed; and not only so, but as each garment was put on--as each act\nwas performed--as each ceremony was enacted, it was seen to be\nimmediately founded upon the authority of the Word. There was nothing\nvague, nothing arbitrary, nothing imaginative: all was divinely\nstable. The need of the congregation was fully met, and met in such a\nway as that it could be said, \"This is the thing which Jehovah\ncommanded to be done.\"\n\nNow, in Aaron anointed alone, previous to the shedding of the blood,\nwe have a type of Christ, who, until He offered Himself upon the\ncross, stood entirely alone. There could be no union between Him and\nHis people save on the ground of death and resurrection. This\nall-important truth has already been referred to, and, in some\nmeasure, developed in connection with the subject of sacrifice; but it\nadds force and interest to it to see it so distinctly presented in\nconnection with the question of priesthood. Without shedding of blood\nthere was no remission--the sacrifice was not completed. So, also,\nwithout shedding of blood Aaron and his sons could not be anointed\ntogether. Let the reader note this fact; let him be assured of it, it\nis worthy of his deepest attention. We must ever beware of passing\nlightly over any circumstance in the Levitical economy. Every thing\nhas its own specific voice and meaning; and the One who designed and\ndeveloped the order can expound to the heart and understanding what\nthat order means.\n\n\"And Moses took of the anointing _oil_, and of the _blood_ which was\nupon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments,\nand upon his sons, and upon his sons' garments _with him_; and\nsanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons'\ngarments _with him_.\" (Chap. viii. 30.) Why were not Aaron's sons\nanointed with him at verse 12? Simply because the blood had not been\nshed. When \"the blood\" and \"the oil\" could be connected together, then\nAaron and his sons could be \"anointed\" and \"sanctified\" together, but\nnot until then. \"And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they\nalso might be sanctified through the truth.\" (John xvii. 19.) The\nreader who could lightly pass over so marked a circumstance, or say it\nmeant nothing, has yet to learn to value aright the types of the Old\nTestament scriptures--\"the shadows of good things to come;\" and, on\nthe other hand, the one who admits that it does mean something, but\nyet refuses to inquire and understand what that something is, is doing\nserious damage to his own soul, and manifesting but little interest in\nthe precious oracles of God.\n\n\"And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, 'Boil the flesh at the\ndoor of the tabernacle of the congregation; and there eat it with the\nbread that is in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying,\nAaron and his sons shall eat it. And that which remaineth of the flesh\nand of the bread shall ye burn with fire. And ye shall not go out of\nthe door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until\nthe days of your consecration be at an end; for seven days shall He\nconsecrate you. As He hath done this day, so the Lord hath commanded\nto do, to make an atonement for you. Therefore shall ye abide at the\ndoor of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days,\nand keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not; for so I am\ncommanded.'\" (Ver. 31-35.) These verses furnish a fine type of Christ\nand His people feeding together upon the results of accomplished\natonement. Aaron and his sons, having been anointed together on the\nground of the shed blood, are here presented to our view as shut in\nwithin the precincts of the tabernacle during \"seven days.\" A striking\nfigure of the present position of Christ and His members during the\nentire of this dispensation--shut in with God, and waiting for the\nmanifestation of the glory. Blessed position! Blessed portion! Blessed\nhope! To be associated with Christ, shut in with God, waiting for the\nday of glory, and, while waiting for the glory, feeding upon the\nriches of divine grace, in the power of holiness, are blessings of the\nmost precious nature--privileges of the very highest order. Oh, for a\ncapacity to take them in, a heart to enjoy them, a deeper sense of\ntheir magnitude! May our hearts be withdrawn from all that pertains to\nthis present evil world, so that we may feed upon the contents of \"the\nbasket of consecrations,\" which is our proper food as priests in the\nsanctuary of God.\n\n\"And it came to pass _on the eighth day_, that Moses called Aaron, and\nhis sons, and _the elders of Israel_. And he said unto Aaron, 'Take\nthee a young calf for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering,\nwithout blemish, and offer them before the Lord. And unto _the\nchildren of Israel_ thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the\ngoats for a sin-offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first\nyear, without blemish, for a burnt-offering; also a bullock and a ram\nfor peace-offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord; and a meat-offering\nmingled with oil; for TO-DAY THE LORD WILL APPEAR UNTO YOU.'\" (Chap.\nix. 1-4.)\n\nThe \"seven days\" being over, during which Aaron and his sons were shut\nin in the retirement of the tabernacle, the whole congregation is now\nintroduced, and the glory of Jehovah unfolds itself. This gives great\ncompleteness to the whole scene. The shadows of good things to come\nare here passing before us, in their divine order. The \"eighth day\" is\na shadow of that bright millennial morning which is about to dawn upon\nthis earth, when the congregation of Israel shall behold the true\nPriest coming forth from the sanctuary, where He is now hidden from\nthe eyes of men, and with Him a company of priests--the companions of\nHis retirement, and the happy participators of His manifested glory.\nIn short, nothing, as a type or shadow, could be more complete. In the\nfirst place, Aaron and his sons washed with water--a type of Christ\nand His people, as viewed in God's eternal decree, sanctified together\nin purpose. (Chap. viii. 6.) Then we have the mode and order in which\nthis purpose was to be carried out. Aaron, in solitude, is robed and\nanointed--a type of Christ as sanctified and sent into the world, and\nanointed by the Holy Ghost. (Ver. 7-12; comp. Luke iii. 21, 22; John\nx. 36; xii. 24.) Then we have the presentation and acceptance of the\nsacrifice, in virtue of which Aaron and his sons were anointed and\nsanctified _together_ (ver. 14-29.)--a type of the cross, in its\napplication to those who now constitute Christ's priestly household,\nwho are united to Him, anointed with Him, hidden with Him, and\nexpecting with Him \"the eighth day,\" when He with them shall be\nmanifested in all the brightness of that glory which belongs to Him in\nthe eternal purpose of God. (John xiv. 19; Acts ii. 33; xix. 1-7; Col.\niii. 1-4.) Finally, we have Israel brought into the full enjoyment of\nthe results of accomplished atonement. They are gathered before the\nLord; \"and Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed\nthem, and came down from offering of the sin-offering, and the\nburnt-offering, and peace-offerings.\" (See chap. ix. 1-22.)\n\nWhat, now, we may legitimately inquire, remains to be done? Simply\nthat the top-stone should be brought forth with shoutings of victory\nand hymns of praise. \"And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of\nthe congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and _the glory\nof the Lord appeared unto all the people_. And there came a fire out\nfrom before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering\nand the fat: which when all the people saw, THEY SHOUTED, AND FELL ON\nTHEIR FACES.\" (Ver. 23, 24.) This was the shout of victory--the\nprostration of worship. All was complete. The sacrifice, the robed and\nmitred priest, the priestly family associated with their head, the\npriestly benediction, the appearance of the king and priest; in short,\nnothing was lacking, and therefore the divine glory appeared, and the\nwhole assembly fell prostrate in adoring worship. It is altogether a\ntruly magnificent scene--a marvelously beautiful shadow of good things\nto come. And be it remembered, that all which is here shadowed forth\nwill ere long be fully actualized. Our great High-Priest has passed\ninto the heavens, in the full value and power of accomplished\natonement. He is hidden there now, and with Him all the members of His\npriestly family; but when the \"seven days\" have run their course, and\n\"the eighth day\" casts its beams upon the earth, then shall the\nremnant of Israel--a repentant and an expectant people--hail, with a\nshout of victory, the manifested presence of the Royal Priest; and in\nimmediate association with Him shall be seen a company of worshipers,\noccupying the most exalted position. These are \"the good things to\ncome\"--things, surely, well worth waiting for--things worthy of God to\ngive--things in which He shall be eternally glorified, and His people\neternally blessed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n\nThe page of human history has ever been a sadly blotted one. It is a\nrecord of failure from first to last. Amid all the delights of Eden,\nman hearkened to the tempter's lie (Gen. iii.); when preserved from\njudgment by the hand of electing love, and introduced into a restored\nearth, he was guilty of the sin of intemperance (Gen. ix.); when\nconducted, by Jehovah's outstretched arm, into the land of Canaan, he\n\"forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth\" (Judges ii. 13.);\nwhen placed at the very summit of earthly power and glory, with\nuntold wealth at his feet, and all the resources of the world at his\ncommand, he gave his heart to the uncircumcised stranger. (1 Kings\nxi.) No sooner had the blessings of the gospel been promulgated than\nit became needful for the Holy Ghost to prophesy concerning \"grievous\nwolves,\" \"apostacy,\" and all manner of failure. (Acts xx. 29; 1 Tim.\niv. 1-3; 2 Tim. iii. 1-5; 2 Pet. ii.; Jude.) And, to crown all, we\nhave the prophetic record of human apostacy from amid all the\nsplendors of millennial glory. (Rev. xx. 7-10.)\n\nThus, man spoils every thing. Place him in a position of highest\ndignity, and he will degrade himself; endow him with the most ample\nprivileges, and he will abuse them; scatter blessings around him in\nrichest profusion, and he will prove ungrateful, place him in the\nmidst of the most impressive institutions, and he will corrupt them.\nSuch is man! Such is nature in its fairest forms and under the most\nfavorable circumstances!\n\nHence, therefore, we are in a measure prepared for the words with\nwhich our chapter opens--\"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took\neither of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense\nthereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded\nthem not.\" What a contrast to the scene with which our last section\nclosed! There, all was done \"as the Lord commanded,\" and the result\nwas, manifested glory; here, something is done \"which the Lord\ncommanded them not,\" and the result is, judgment. Hardly had the echo\nof the shout of victory died away ere the elements of a spurious\nworship were prepared,--hardly had the divine position been assumed\nere it was deliberately abandoned, through neglect of the divine\ncommandment. No sooner were those priests inaugurated than they\ngrievously failed in the discharge of their priestly functions.\n\nAnd in what did their failure consist? Were they spurious priests?\nwere they mere pretenders? By no means. They were genuine sons of\nAaron--true members of the priestly family--duly appointed priests.\nTheir vessels of ministry, and their priestly garments too, would seem\nto have been all right. What, then, was their sin? Did they stain the\ncurtains of the tabernacle with human blood? or pollute the sacred\nprecincts with some crime which shocks the moral sense? We have no\nproof of their having done so. Their sin was this: \"They offered\nstrange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not.\" Here was\ntheir sin. They departed in their worship from the plain word of\nJehovah, who had fully and plainly instructed them as to the mode of\ntheir worship. We have already alluded to the divine fullness and\nsufficiency of the word of the Lord, in reference to every branch of\npriestly service. There was no room left for man to introduce what he\nmight deem desirable or expedient. \"This is the thing which the Lord\nhath commanded\" was quite sufficient. It made all very plain and very\nsimple. Nothing was needed on man's part save a spirit of implicit\nobedience to the divine command. But herein they failed. Man has\nalways proved himself ill-disposed to walk in the narrow path of\nstrict adherence to the plain word of God. The bypath has ever seemed\nto present resistless charms to the poor human heart. \"Stolen waters\nare sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.\" (Prov. ix. 17.)\nSuch is the enemy's language; but the lowly, obedient heart knows full\nwell that the path of subjection to the Word of God is the only one\nthat leads to \"waters\" that are really \"sweet,\" or to \"bread\" that can\nbe rightly called \"pleasant.\" Nadab and Abihu might have deemed one\nkind of \"fire\" as good as another, but it was not their province to\ndecide as to that. They should have acted according to the word of the\nLord; but instead of this, they took their own way and reaped the\nawful fruits thereof. \"He knoweth not that the dead are there; and\nthat her guests are in the depths of hell.\"\n\n\"And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they\ndied before the Lord.\" How deeply solemn! Jehovah was dwelling in the\nmidst of His people, to govern, to judge, and to act, according to the\nclaims of His nature. At the close of chapter ix, we read, \"And there\ncame a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the\nburnt-offering and the fat.\" This was Jehovah's acceptance of a true\nsacrifice; but in chapter x, it is His judgment upon erring priests.\nIt is a double action of the same fire. The burnt-offering went up as\na sweet odor: the \"strange fire\" was rejected as an abomination. The\nLord was glorified in the former; but it would have been a dishonor\nto accept the latter. Divine grace accepted and delighted in that\nwhich was a type of Christ's most precious sacrifice: divine holiness\nrejected that which was the fruit of man's corrupt will--a will never\nmore hideous and abominable than when active in the things of God.\n\n\"Then Moses said unto Aaron, 'This is it that the Lord spake, saying,\nI will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the\npeople I will be glorified.'\" The dignity and glory of the entire\neconomy depended upon the strict maintenance of Jehovah's righteous\nclaims. If these were to be trifled with, all was forfeited. If man\nwere permitted to defile the sanctuary of the divine presence by\n\"strange fire,\" there was an end to every thing. Nothing could be\npermitted to ascend from the priestly censer but the pure fire,\nkindled from off the altar of God, and fed by the \"pure incense beaten\nsmall.\" Beauteous type of true saintly worship, of which the Father is\nthe object, Christ the material, and the Holy Ghost the power. Man\nmust not be allowed to introduce his devices into the worship of God.\nAll his efforts can only issue in the presentation of \"strange\nfire\"--unhallowed incense--false worship. His very best attempts are\nan absolute abomination in the sight of God.\n\nI speak not here of the honest struggles of earnest spirits searching\nafter peace with God,--of the sincere efforts of upright, though\nunenlightened, consciences to attain to a knowledge of the\nforgiveness of sins by works of law or the ordinances of symtematic\nreligion; all such will doubtless issue, through the exceeding\ngoodness of God, in the clear light of a known and an enjoyed\nsalvation. They prove very clearly that peace is earnestly sought;\nthough, at the same time, they prove just as clearly that peace has\nnot yet been found. There never yet was one who honestly followed the\nfaintest glimmerings of light which fell upon his understanding who\ndid not, in due time, receive more. \"To him that hath shall more be\ngiven.\" And again, \"The path of the just is as the shining light,\nwhich shineth more and more unto the perfect day.\"\n\nAll this is as plain as it is encouraging; but it leaves wholly\nuntouched the question of the human will, and its impious workings in\nconnection with the service and worship of God. All such workings must\ninevitably call down, sooner or later, the solemn judgment of a\nrighteous God, who cannot suffer His claims to be trifled with. \"I\nwill be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the\npeople I will be glorified.\" Men will be dealt with according to their\nprofession. If men are honestly seeking, they will assuredly find; but\nwhen men approach as worshipers, they are no longer to be regarded as\nseekers, but as those who profess to have found; and then, if their\npriestly censer smokes with unhallowed fire--if they offer unto God\nthe elements of a spurious worship--if they profess to tread His\ncourts, unwashed, unsanctified, unsubdued--if they place on His altar\nthe workings of their own corrupt will, what must be the result?\nJudgment! Yes, sooner or later, judgment must come. It may linger, but\nit will come. It could not be otherwise. And not only must judgment\ncome at last, but there is, in every case, the immediate rejection on\nthe part of Heaven of all worship which has not the Father for its\nobject, Christ for its material, and the Holy Ghost for its power.\nGod's holiness is as quick to reject all \"strange fire\" as His grace\nis ready to accept the faintest, feeblest breathings of a true heart.\nHe must pour out His righteous judgment upon all false worship, though\nHe will never \"quench the smoking flax nor break the bruised reed.\"\nThe thought of this is most solemnizing, when one calls to mind the\nthousands of censers smoking with strange fire throughout the wide\ndomain of christendom. May the Lord, in His rich grace, add to the\nnumber of true worshipers, who worship the Father in spirit and in\ntruth. (John iv.) It is infinitely happier to think of the true\nworship ascending from honest hearts to the throne of God, than to\ncontemplate, even for a moment, the spurious worship on which the\ndivine judgments must ere long be poured out. Every one who knows,\nthrough grace, the pardon of his sins through the atoning blood of\nJesus, can worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He knows the\nproper ground, the proper object, the proper title, the proper\ncapacity of worship. These things can only be known in a divine way.\nThey do not belong to nature or to earth. They are spiritual and\nheavenly. Very much of that which passes among men for the worship of\nGod is but \"strange fire\" after all. There is neither the pure fire\nnor the pure incense, and therefore Heaven accepts it not; and albeit\nthe divine judgment is not seen to fall upon those who present such\nworship as it fell upon Nadab and Abihu of old, this is only because\n\"God is in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing\ntheir trespasses unto them.\" It is not because the worship is\nacceptable to God, but because God is gracious. The time, however, is\nrapidly approaching when the strange fire will be quenched\nforever--when the throne of God shall no longer be insulted by clouds\nof impure incense ascending from unpurged worshipers--when all that is\nspurious shall be abolished, and the whole universe shall be as one\nvast and magnificent temple, in which the one true God--Father, Son,\nand Holy Ghost--shall be worshiped throughout the everlasting ages.\n\n \"Grateful incense this, ascending\n Ever to the Father's throne;\n Every knee to Jesus bending,\n All the mind in heaven is one.\n\n All the Father's counsels claiming\n Equal honors to the Son,\n All the Son's effulgence beaming\n Makes the Father's glory known.\n\n By the Spirit all pervading,\n Hosts unnumbered round the Lamb,\n Crowned with light and joy unfading,\n Hail Him as the great 'I AM.'\"\n\nFor this the redeemed are waiting; and, blessed be God, it is but a\nlittle while when all their longing desires shall be fully met, and\nmet forever--yea, met after such a fashion as to elicit from each and\nall the touching confession of Sheba's queen that \"the half was not\ntold me.\" May the Lord hasten the happy time!\n\nWe must now return to our solemn chapter, and, lingering a little\nlonger over it, endeavor to gather up and bear away with us some of\nits salutary teaching; for truly salutary it is, in an age like the\npresent, when there is so much \"strange fire\" abroad.\n\nThere is something unusually arresting and impressive in the way in\nwhich Aaron received the heavy stroke of divine judgment.--\"_Aaron\nheld his peace._\" It was a solemn scene. His two sons struck dead at\nhis side--smitten down by the fire of divine judgment.[20] He had but\njust seen them clothed in their garments of glory and beauty--washed,\nrobed, and anointed. They had stood with him before the Lord to be\ninaugurated into the priestly office; they had offered, in company\nwith him, the appointed sacrifices; they had seen the beams of the\ndivine glory darting from the shekinah; they had seen the fire of\nJehovah fall upon the sacrifice and consume it; they had heard the\nshout of triumph issuing from an assembly of adoring worshipers;--all\nthis had but recently passed before him; and now, alas! his two sons\nlie at his side in the grasp of death. The fire of the Lord, which so\nrecently fed upon an acceptable sacrifice, had now fallen in judgment\nupon them, and what could he say? Nothing. \"Aaron held his peace.\" \"I\nwas dumb and opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.\" It was the\nhand of God; and although it might, in the judgment of flesh and\nblood, seem to be a very heavy hand, yet he had only to bow his head\nin silent awe and reverent acquiescence. \"_I_ was dumb ... because\n_Thou_ didst it.\" This was the suited attitude in the presence of the\ndivine visitation. Aaron doubtless felt that the very pillars of his\nhouse were shaken by the thunder of divine judgment, and he could only\nstand in silent amazement in the midst of the soul-subduing scene. A\nfather bereaved of his two sons, and in such a manner, and under such\ncircumstances, was no ordinary case. It furnished a deeply impressive\ncommentary upon the words of the Psalmist, \"God is greatly to be\nfeared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of\nall them that are about Him.\" (Psalm lxxxix.) \"Who would not fear\nThee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name?\" May we learn to walk softly in\nthe divine presence--to tread Jehovah's courts with unshod foot and\nreverent spirit. May our priestly censer ever bear upon it the one\nmaterial--the beaten incense of Christ's manifold perfections, and may\nthe power of the Spirit kindle up the hallowed flame. All else is not\nonly worthless, but vile. Every thing that springs from nature's\nenergy, every thing produced by the actings of the human will--the\nmost fragrant incense of man's devising--the most intense ardor of\nnatural devotion, will all issue in \"strange fire,\" and evoke the\nsolemn judgment of the Lord God Almighty. Oh for a thoroughly truthful\nheart and worshiping spirit, in the presence of our God and Father,\ncontinually!\n\n [20] Lest any reader should be troubled with a difficulty in reference\n to the souls of Nadab and Abihu, I would say that no such question\n ought ever to be raised. In such cases as Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus\n x, Korah and his company in Numbers xvi, the whole congregation,\n Joshua and Caleb excepted, whose carcases fell in the wilderness\n (Numb. xiv. and Heb. iii.), Achan and his family (Josh. vii.), Ananias\n and Sapphira (Acts v.), those who were judged for abuses at the Lord's\n table (1 Cor. xi.),--in all such cases, the question of the soul's\n salvation is never raised. We are simply called to see in them the\n solemn actings of God in government in the midst of His people. This\n relieves the mind from all difficulty. Jehovah dwelt, of old, between\n the cherubim, to judge His people in every thing; and God the Holy\n Ghost dwells now in the Church, to order and govern according to the\n perfection of His presence. He was so really and personally present\n that Ananias and Sapphira could lie to Him, and He could execute\n judgment upon them. It was as positive and as immediate an exhibition\n of His actings in government as we have in the matter of Nadab and\n Abihu, or Achan, or any other.\n\n This is a great truth to get hold of. God is not only _for_ His\n people, but _with_ them, and _in_ them. He is to be counted upon for\n every thing, whether it be great or small. He is present to comfort\n and help. He is there to chasten and judge; He is there \"for exigence\n of every hour.\" He is sufficient. Let faith count upon Him. \"Where two\n or three are gathered together in My name, there am I.\" (Matt. xviii.\n 20.) And, assuredly, where He is, we want no more.\n\nBut let not any upright, though timid, heart be discouraged or\nalarmed. It is too often the case that those who really ought to be\nalarmed take no heed, while those for whom the Spirit of grace would\nonly design a word of comfort and encouragement apply to themselves\nin a wrong way the startling warnings of holy Scripture. No doubt, the\nmeek and contrite heart that trembles at the word of the Lord is in a\nsafe condition; but then we should remember that a father warns his\nchild, not because he does not regard him as his child, but because he\ndoes, and one of the happiest proofs of the relationship is the\ndisposition to receive and profit by the warning. The parental voice,\neven though its tone be that of solemn admonition, will reach the\nchild's heart, but certainly not to raise in that heart a question as\nto its relationship with the one who speaks. If a son were to question\nhis sonship whenever his father warns, it would be a poor affair\nindeed. The judgment which had just fallen upon Aaron's house did not\nmake him doubt that he was really a priest; it merely had the effect\nof teaching him how to conduct himself in that high and holy position.\n\n\"And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his\nsons, 'Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die,\nand lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the\nwhole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.\nAnd ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the\ncongregation, lest ye die; for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon\nyou.' And they did according to the word of Moses.\"\n\nAaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar were to remain unmoved in their elevated\nplace--their holy dignity--their position of priestly sanctity.\nNeither the failure nor yet the judgment consequent thereon was to be\nallowed to interfere with those who wore the priestly robes and were\nanointed with \"the oil of the Lord.\" That holy oil had placed them in\na sacred inclosure, where the influences of sin, of death, and of\njudgment could not reach them. Those who were outside, who were at a\ndistance from the sanctuary, who were not in the position of priests,\nthey might \"bewail the burning;\" but as for Aaron and his sons, they\nwere to go on in the discharge of their hallowed functions as though\nnothing had happened. Priests in the sanctuary were not to bewail, but\nto worship--they were not to weep, as in the presence of death, but to\nbow their anointed heads in the presence of the divine visitation.\n\"The fire of the Lord\" might act, and do its solemn work of judgment;\nbut to a priest it mattered not what that \"fire\" had come to\ndo--whether to express the divine approval by consuming a sacrifice,\nor the divine displeasure by consuming the offerers of \"strange\nfire\"--he had but to worship. That \"fire\" was a well-known\nmanifestation of the divine presence in Israel of old, and whether it\nacted in \"mercy or in judgment,\" the business of all true priests was\nto worship. \"I will sing of mercy and of judgment; unto Thee, O Lord,\nwill I sing.\"\n\nThere is a deep and holy lesson for the soul in all this. Those who\nare brought nigh to God, in the power of the blood, and by the\nanointing of the Holy Ghost, must move in a sphere beyond the range\nof nature's influences. Priestly nearness to God gives the soul such\nan insight into all His ways, such a sense of the rightness of all His\ndispensations, that one is enabled to worship in His presence, even\nthough the stroke of His hand has removed from us the object of tender\naffection. It may be asked, Are we to be Stoics? I ask, Were Aaron and\nhis sons Stoics? Nay, they were priests. Did they not feel as men?\nYes; but they worshiped as priests. This is profound. It opens up a\nregion of thought, feeling, and experience in which nature can never\nmove--a region of which, with all its boasted refinement and\nsentimentality, nature knows absolutely nothing. We must tread the\nsanctuary of God in true priestly energy, in order to enter into the\ndepth, meaning, and power of such holy mysteries.\n\nThe prophet Ezekiel was called, in his day, to sit down to this\ndifficult lesson. \"Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,\n'Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes\nwith a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall\nthy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead,\nbind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy\nfeet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of _men_.'... And\nI did in the morning as I was commanded.\" (Ez. xxiv. 16-18.) It will\nbe said that all this was as \"a sign\" to Israel. True; but it proves\nthat in prophetic testimony, as well as in priestly worship, we must\nrise superior to all the claims and influences of nature and of earth.\nAaron's sons and Ezekiel's wife were cut down with a stroke, and yet\nneither the priest nor the prophet was to uncover his head or shed a\ntear.\n\nOh, my reader, how far have you and I progressed in this profound\nlesson? No doubt both reader and writer have to make the same\nhumiliating confession. Too often, alas! we \"walk as men\" and \"eat the\nbread of men\"--too often are we robbed of our high priestly privileges\nby the workings of nature and the influences of earth. These things\nmust be watched against. Nothing save realized priestly nearness to\nGod can ever preserve the heart from the power of evil or maintain its\nspiritual tone. All believers are priests unto God, and nothing can\npossibly deprive them of their position as such; but though they\ncannot lose their position, they may grievously fail in the discharge\nof their functions. These things are not sufficiently distinguished.\nSome there are who, while looking at the precious truth of the\nbeliever's security, forget the possibility of his failing in the\ndischarge of his priestly functions: others, on the contrary, looking\nat the failure, venture to call in question the security.\n\nNow, I desire that my reader should keep clear of both the above\nerrors. He should be fully established in the divine doctrine of the\neternal security of every member of the true priestly house; but he\nshould also bear in mind the possibility of failure, and the constant\nneed of watchfulness and prayer, lest he should fail. May all those\nwho have been brought to know the hallowed elevation of priests unto\nGod be preserved, by His heavenly grace, from every species of\nfailure, whether it be personal defilement or the presentation of any\nof the varied forms of \"strange fire,\" which abound so in the\nprofessing church.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, 'Do not drink wine nor strong\ndrink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of\nthe congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever\nthroughout your generations: and that ye may put difference between\nholy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach\nthe children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken\nunto them by the hand of Moses.'\" (Ver. 8-11.)\n\nThe effect of wine is to excite nature, and all natural excitement\nhinders that calm, well-balanced condition of soul which is essential\nto the proper discharge of the priestly office. So far from using any\nmeans to excite nature, we should treat it as a thing having no\nexistence. Thus only shall we be in a moral condition to serve in the\nsanctuary, to form a dispassionate judgment between clean and unclean,\nand to expound and communicate the mind of God. It devolves upon each\none to judge for himself what, in his special case, would act as \"wine\nor strong drink.\"[21] The things which excite mere nature are\nmanifold indeed--wealth, ambition, politics, the varied objects of\nemulation around us in the world. All these things act with exciting\npower upon nature, and entirely unfit us for every department of\npriestly service. If the heart be swollen with feelings of pride,\ncovetousness, or emulation, it is utterly impossible that the pure air\nof the sanctuary can be enjoyed, or the sacred functions of priestly\nministry discharged. Men speak of the versatility of genius, or a\ncapacity to turn quickly from one thing to another; but the most\nversatile genius that was ever possessed could not enable a man to\npass from an unhallowed arena of literary, commercial, or political\ncompetition, into the holy retirement of the sanctuary of the divine\npresence; nor could it ever adjust the eye that had become dimmed by\nthe influence of such scenes, so as to enable it to discern, with\npriestly accuracy, the difference \"between holy and unholy, and\nbetween unclean and clean.\" No, my reader, God's priests must keep\nthemselves apart from \"wine and strong drink.\" Theirs is a path of\nholy separation and abstraction. They are to be raised far above the\ninfluence of earthly joy as well as earthly sorrow. If they have aught\nto do with \"strong wine,\" it is only that it may \"be poured unto the\nLord for a drink-offering, in the holy place.\" (Numb. xxviii. 7.) In\nother words, the joy of God's priests is not the joy of earth, but the\njoy of heaven--the joy of the sanctuary. \"The joy of the Lord is their\nstrength.\"\n\n [21] Some have thought that, owing to the special place which this\n direction about wine occupies, Nadab and Abihu must have been under\n the influence of strong drink when they offered the \"strange fire.\"\n But be this as it may, we have to be thankful for a most valuable\n principle in reference to our conduct as spiritual priests. We are to\n refrain from every thing which would produce the same effect upon our\n spiritual man as strong drink produces upon the physical man.\n\n It needs hardly to be remarked that the Christian should be _most\n jealous_ over himself as to the use of wine or strong drink. Timothy,\n as we know, needed an apostolic recommendation to induce him even to\n touch it for his health's sake. (1 Tim. v.) A beauteous proof of\n Timothy's habitual self-denial, and of the thoughtful love of the\n Spirit in the apostle. I must confess that one's moral sense is\n offended by seeing Christians making use of strong drink in cases\n where it is very manifestly not medicinal. I rarely, if ever, see a\n spiritual person indulge in such a thing. One trembles to see a\n Christian the mere slave of a habit, whatever that habit may be. It\n proves that he is not keeping his body in subjection.\n\nWould that all this holy instruction were more deeply pondered by us!\nWe surely stand much in need of it. If our priestly responsibilities\nare not duly attended to, all must be deranged. When we contemplate\nthe camp of Israel, we may observe three circles, and the innermost of\nthese circles had its centre in the sanctuary. There was first the\ncircle of men of war (Numb. i, ii.); then the circle of Levites round\nabout the tabernacle (Numb. iii, iv.); and lastly, the innermost\ncircle of priests, ministering in the holy place. Now, let it be\nremembered that the believer is called to move in all those circles.\nHe enters into conflict, as a man of war (Eph. vi. 11-17; 1 Tim. i.\n18; vi. 12; 2 Tim. iv. 7.); he serves, as a Levite, in the midst of\nhis brethren, according to his measure and sphere (Matt. xv. 14, 15;\nLuke xix. 12, 13.); finally, he sacrifices and worships, as a priest,\nin the holy place (Heb. xiii. 15, 16; 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.). The last of\nthese shall endure forever. And, moreover, it is as we are enabled\nnow to move aright in that holy circle that all other relations and\nresponsibilities are rightly discharged. Hence, every thing that\nincapacitates us for our priestly functions--every thing that draws us\noff from the centre of that innermost circle, in which it is our\nprivilege to move--every thing, in short, that tends to derange our\npriestly relation, or dim our priestly vision, must, of necessity,\nunfit us for the service which we are called to render, and for the\nwarfare which we are called to wage.\n\nThese are weighty considerations. Let us dwell upon them. The heart\nmust be kept right, the conscience pure, the eye single, the spiritual\nvision undimmed. The soul's business in the holy place must be\nfaithfully and diligently attended to, else we shall go all wrong.\nPrivate communion with God must be kept up, else we shall be fruitless\nas servants, and defeated as men of war. It is vain for us to bustle\nabout, and run hither and thither in what we call service, or indulge\nin vapid words about Christian armor and Christian warfare. If we are\nnot keeping our priestly garments unspotted, and if we are not keeping\nourselves free from all that would excite nature, we shall assuredly\nbreak down. The _priest_ must keep his heart with all diligence, else\nthe _Levite_ will fail, and the _warrior_ will be defeated.\n\nIt is, let me repeat it, the business of each one to be fully aware of\nwhat it is that to him proves to be \"wine and strong drink\"--what it\nis that produces excitement--that blunts his spiritual perception, or\ndims his priestly vision. It may be an auction-mart, a cattle-show, a\nnewspaper,--it may be the merest trifle. But no matter what it is, if\nit tends to excite, it will disqualify us for priestly ministry; and\nif we are disqualified as priests, we are unfit for every thing,\ninasmuch as our success in every department and in every sphere must\never depend upon our cultivating a spirit of worship.\n\nLet us, then, exercise a spirit of self-judgment--a spirit of\nwatchfulness over our habits, our ways, and our associations; and when\nwe, by grace, discover aught that tends, in the smallest, degree to\nunfit us for the elevated exercises of the sanctuary, let us put it\naway from us, cost what it may. Let us not suffer ourselves to be the\nslaves of a habit. Communion with God should be dearer to our hearts\nthan all beside; and just in proportion as we prize that communion,\nshall we watch and pray against any thing that would rob us of\nit--every thing that would excite, ruffle, or unhinge.[22]\n\n [22] Some, perhaps, may think that the wording of Leviticus x. 9\n affords a warrant for _occasional_ indulgence in those things which\n tend to excite the natural mind, inasmuch as it is said, \"Do not drink\n wine nor strong drink ... _when_ ye go into the tabernacle of the\n congregation.\" To this we may reply that the sanctuary is not a place\n which the Christian is _occasionally_ to visit, but a place in which\n he is _habitually_ to serve and worship. It is the sphere in which he\n should \"live, and move, and have his being.\" The more we live in the\n presence of God, the less can we bear to be out of it; and no one who\n knows the deep joy of being there could lightly indulge in aught that\n would take or keep him thence. There is not that object within the\n compass of earth which would, in the judgment of a spiritual mind, be\n an equivalent for one hour's fellowship with God.\n\n\"And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his\nsons that were left, 'Take the meat-offering that remaineth of the\nofferings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside\nthe altar; for it is most holy: and ye shall eat it in the holy place,\nbecause it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the\nLord made by fire; for so I am commanded.'\" (Ver. 12, 13.)\n\nThere are few things in which we are more prone to fail than in the\nmaintenance of the divine standard when human failure has set in. Like\nDavid, when the Lord made a breach upon Uzzah because of his failure\nin putting his hand to the ark, \"he was afraid of God that day,\nsaying, 'How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?'\" (1 Chron.\nxiii. 12.) It is exceedingly difficult to bow to the divine judgment\nand, at the same time, to hold fast the divine ground. The temptation\nis to lower the standard--to come down from the lofty elevation--to\ntake human ground. We must ever carefully guard against this evil,\nwhich is all the more dangerous as wearing the garb of modesty,\nself-distrust, and humility. Aaron and his sons, notwithstanding all\nthat had occurred, were to eat the meat-offering in the holy place.\nThey were to do so, not because all had gone on in perfect order, but\n\"because it is thy due,\" and \"so I am commanded.\" Though there had\nbeen failure, yet their place was in the tabernacle; and those who\nwere there had certain \"dues\" founded upon the divine commandment.\nThough man had failed ten thousand times over, the word of the Lord\ncould not fail; and that word had secured certain privileges for all\ntrue priests, which it was their place to enjoy. Were God's priests to\nhave nothing to eat--no priestly food, because failure had set in?\nWere those that were left to be allowed to starve, because Nadab and\nAbihu had offered \"strange fire\"? This would never do. God is\nfaithful, and He can never allow any one to be empty in His blessed\npresence. The prodigal may wander and squander and come to poverty,\nbut it must ever hold good that \"in my Father's house is bread enough\nand to spare.\"\n\n\"And the wave breast and the heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean\nplace; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be\nthy due, and thy sons' due, which are _given_ out of the sacrifices of\npeace-offerings of the children of Israel ... by _a statute forever,\nas the Lord hath commanded_.\" (Ver. 14, 15.) What strength and\nstability we have here! All the members of the priestly family,\n\"daughters\" as well as \"sons\"--all, whatever be the measure of energy\nor capacity, are to feed upon \"the breast\" and \"the shoulder\"--the\naffections and the strength of the true Peace-offering, as raised from\nthe dead, and presented, in resurrection, before God. This precious\nprivilege is theirs as \"given by a statute forever, as the Lord hath\ncommanded.\" This makes all \"sure and steadfast,\" come what may. Men\nmay fail and come short, strange fire may be offered, but God's\npriestly family must never be deprived of the rich and gracious\nportion which divine love has provided and divine faithfulness\nsecured \"by a statute forever.\"\n\nHowever, we must distinguish between those privileges which belonged\nto all the members of Aaron's family, \"daughters\" as well as \"sons,\"\nand those which could only be enjoyed by the male portion of the\nfamily. This point has already been referred to in the notes on the\nofferings. There are certain blessings which are the common portion of\nall believers, simply as such; and there are those which demand a\nhigher measure of spiritual attainment and priestly energy to\napprehend and enjoy. Now, it is worse than vain, yea, it is impious,\nto set up for the enjoyment of this higher measure when we really have\nit not. It is one thing to hold fast the privileges which are \"given\"\nof God, and can never be taken away, and quite another to assume a\nmeasure of spiritual capacity to which we have never attained. No\ndoubt, we ought to desire earnestly the very highest measure of\npriestly communion--the most elevated order of priestly privilege; but\nthen desiring a thing, and assuming to have it, are very different.\n\nThis thought will throw light upon the closing paragraph of our\nchapter. \"And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin-offering,\nand, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar,\nthe sons of Aaron which were left, saying, 'Wherefore have ye not\neaten the sin-offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and\nGod hath given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to\nmake atonement for them before the Lord? Behold, the blood of it was\nnot brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it\nin the holy place, as I commanded.' And Aaron said unto Moses,\n'Behold, this day have they offered their sin-offering and their\nburnt-offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me: and\nif I had eaten the sin-offering to-day, should it have been accepted\nin the sight of the Lord?' And when Moses heard that, he was content.\"\n\nThe \"daughters\" of Aaron were not permitted to eat of \"the\nsin-offering.\" This high privilege belonged only to the \"sons,\" and it\nwas a type of the most elevated form of priestly service. To eat of\nthe sin-offering was the expression of full identification with the\nofferer, and this demanded an amount of priestly capacity and energy\nwhich found its type in \"the sons of Aaron.\" On the occasion before\nus, however, it is very evident that Aaron and his sons were not in a\ncondition to rise to this high and holy ground. They ought to have\nbeen, but they were not. \"Such things have befallen me,\" said Aaron.\nThis, no doubt, was to be deplored; but yet, \"when Moses heard that,\nhe was content.\" It is far better to be real in the confession of our\nfailure and shortcoming, than to put forth pretensions to spiritual\npower which are wholly without foundation.\n\nThus, then, the tenth chapter of the book of Leviticus opens with\npositive sin and closes with negative failure. Nadab and Abihu offered\n\"strange fire,\" and Eleazar and Ithamar were unable to eat the\nsin-offering. The former was met by divine judgment; the latter, by\ndivine forbearance. There could be no allowance for \"strange fire.\" It\nwas positively flying in the face of God's plain commandment. There is\nobviously a wide difference between a deliberate rejection of a plain\ncommand and mere inability to rise to the height of a divine\nprivilege. The former is open dishonor done to God; the latter is a\nforfeiture of one's own blessing. There should be neither the one nor\nthe other, but the difference between the two is easily traced.\n\nMay the Lord, in His infinite grace, ever keep us abiding in the\nsecret retirement of His holy presence, abiding in His love, and\nfeeding upon His truth. Thus shall we be preserved from \"strange fire\"\nand \"strong drink\"--from false worship of every kind and fleshly\nexcitement in all its forms. Thus, too, shall we be enabled to carry\nourselves aright in every department of priestly ministration, and to\nenjoy all the privileges of our priestly position. The communion of a\nChristian is like a sensitive plant. It is easily hurt by the rude\ninfluences of an evil world. It will expand beneath the genial action\nof the air of heaven, but must firmly shut itself up from the chilling\nbreath of time and sense. Let us remember these things, and ever seek\nto keep close within the sacred precincts of the divine presence.\nThere, all is pure, safe, and happy.\n\n Far from a world of grief and sin,\n With God eternally shut in.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n\nThe book of Leviticus may be termed \"The Priest's Guide-book.\" This is\nvery much its character. It is full of principles for the guidance of\nsuch as desire to live in the enjoyment of priestly nearness to God.\nHad Israel gone on with Jehovah according to the grace in which He had\nbrought them up out of the land of Egypt, they should have been to Him\n\"a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.\" (Ex. xix. 6.) This, however,\nthey failed to do. They put themselves at a distance; they got under\nlaw and failed to keep it. Hence, Jehovah had to take up a certain\ntribe, and from that tribe a certain family, and from that family a\ncertain man, and to him and to his house was granted the high\nprivilege of drawing nigh as priests unto God.\n\nNow, the privileges of such a position were immense; but it had its\nheavy responsibilities likewise. There would be the ever-recurring\ndemand for the exercise of a discerning mind. \"The priest's lips\nshould keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for\nhe is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.\" (Mal. ii. 7.) The priest\nwas not only to bear the judgment of the congregation before the Lord,\nbut also to expound the ordinances of the Lord to the congregation. He\nwas to be the ever-ready medium of communication between Jehovah and\nthe assembly. He was not merely to know the mind of God for himself,\nbut be able also to interpret that mind to the people. All this would\ndemand, of necessity, constant watching, constant waiting, constant\nhanging over the page of inspiration, that he might drink in, to his\nvery soul, all the precepts, the judgments, the statutes, the laws,\nthe commandments, and the ordinances of the God of Israel, so as to be\nable to instruct the congregation in reference to \"those things which\nought to be done.\"\n\nThere was no room left for the play of fancy, the working of\nimagination, the introduction of man's plausible inferences, or the\ncunning devices of human expediency. Every thing was laid down with\nthe divine precision and commanding authority of a \"Thus saith the\nLord.\" Minute and elaborate as was the detail of sacrifices, rites,\nand ceremonies, nothing was left for man's brain to originate. He was\nnot even permitted to decide upon the kind of sacrifice to be offered\nupon any given occasion, nor yet as to the mode in which such\nsacrifice was to be presented. Jehovah took care of every thing.\nNeither the congregation nor the priest had any authority whatsoever\nto decree, enact, or suggest so much as a single item throughout all\nthe vast array of ordinances in the Mosaic economy. _The word of the\nLord settled all_: man had _only to obey_.\n\nThis, to an obedient heart, was nothing short of an unspeakable mercy.\nIt is quite impossible to overestimate the privilege of being\npermitted to betake one's self to the oracles of God, and there find\nthe most ample guidance as to all the details of one's faith and\nservice day by day. All that we need is a broken will, a mortified\nmind, a single eye. The divine guide-book is as full as we can\npossibly desire: we want no more. To imagine for a moment that aught\nis left for man's wisdom to supply, must be regarded as a flagrant\ninsult offered to the sacred canon. No one can read the book of\nLeviticus and not be struck with the extraordinary painstaking on the\npart of Israel's God to furnish His people with the most minute\ninstruction upon every point connected with His service and worship.\nThe most cursory reader of the book might at least bear away with him\nthis touching and interesting lesson.\n\nAnd truly, if ever there was a time when this self-same lesson needed\nto be read out in the ears of the professing church, this is the time.\nOn all hands, the divine sufficiency of holy Scripture is called in\nquestion. In some cases, this is openly and deliberately done; in\nothers, it is with less frankness hinted, insinuated, implied, and\ninferred. The Christian mariner is told, directly or indirectly, that\nthe divine chart is insufficient for all the intricate details of his\nvoyage--that such changes have taken place in the ocean of life since\nthat chart was made that in many cases it is entirely deficient for\nthe purposes of modern navigation. He is told that the currents,\ntides, coasts, strands, and shores of that ocean are quite different\nnow from what they were some centuries ago, and that, as a necessary\nconsequence, he must have recourse to the aids which modern\nnavigation supplies, in order to make up for the deficiencies in the\nold chart, which is, as a matter of course, admitted to have been\nperfect at the time it was made.\n\nNow, I earnestly desire that the Christian reader should be able, with\nclearness and decision, to meet this grievous dishonor done to the\nprecious volume of inspiration, every line of which comes to him fresh\nfrom his Father's bosom, through the pen of God the Holy Ghost. I\ndesire that he should meet it whether it comes before him in the shape\nof a bold and blasphemous statement or a learned and plausible\ninference. Whatever garb it wears, it owes its origin to the enemy of\nChrist, the enemy of the Bible, the enemy of the soul. If, indeed, the\nWord of God be not sufficient, then where are we? or whither shall we\nturn? To whom shall we betake ourselves for aid if our Father's book\nbe in any respect defective? God says that His book can \"furnish us\n_thoroughly_ to _all_ good works.\" (2 Tim. iii. 17.) Man says, No;\nthere are many things about which the Bible is silent, which,\nnevertheless, we need to know. Whom am I to believe? God, or man? Our\nreply to any one who questions the divine sufficiency of Scripture is\njust this: Either you are not a \"man of God,\" or else that for which\nyou want a warrant is not \"a good work.\" This is plain. No one can\npossibly think otherwise with his eye resting on 2 Timothy iii. 17.\n\nOh for a deeper sense of the fullness, majesty, and authority of the\nWord of God! We very much need to be braced up on this point. We want\nsuch a deep, bold, vigorous, influential, and abiding sense of the\nsupreme authority of the divine canon, and of its absolute\ncompleteness for every age, every clime, every position, every\ndepartment--personal, social, and ecclesiastical, as shall enable us\nto withstand every attempt of the enemy to depreciate the value of\nthat inestimable treasure. May our hearts enter more into the spirit\nof those words of the Psalmist--\"Thy Word is true _from the\nbeginning_; and every one of thy righteous judgments _endureth\nforever_.\" (Psalm cxix. 160.)\n\nThe foregoing train of thought is awakened by the perusal of the\neleventh chapter of the book of Leviticus. Therein we find Jehovah\nentering, in most marvelous detail, into a description of beasts,\nbirds, fishes, and reptiles, and furnishing His people with various\nmarks by which they were to know what was clean and what was unclean.\nWe have the summing up of the entire contents of this remarkable\nchapter in the two closing verses.--\"This is the law of the beasts,\nand of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the\nwaters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth; _to make a\ndifference_ between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast\nthat may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.\"\n\nWith regard to beasts, two things were essential to render them\nclean--they should chew the cud and divide the hoof. \"Whatsoever\nparteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud among the\nbeasts, that shall ye eat.\" Either of these marks would, of itself,\nhave been wholly insufficient to constitute ceremonial cleanness: the\ntwo should go together. Now, while these two marks were quite\nsufficient for the guidance of an Israelite as to the cleanness or\nuncleanness of an animal, without any reference as to why or wherefore\nsuch marks were given or what they meant, yet is the Christian\npermitted to inquire into the spiritual truth wrapped up in these\nceremonial enactments.\n\nWhat, then, are we to learn from those two features in a clean animal?\nThe chewing of the cud expresses the natural process of \"inwardly\ndigesting\" that which one eats, while the divided hoof sets forth the\ncharacter of one's outward walk. There is, as we know, an intimate\nconnection between the two in the Christian life. The one who feeds\nupon the green pastures of the Word of God, and inwardly digests what\nhe takes in--the one who is enabled to combine calm meditation with\nprayerful study, will, without doubt, manifest that character of\noutward walk which is to the praise of Him who has graciously given us\nHis Word to form our habits and govern our ways.\n\nIt is to be feared that many who _read the Bible_ do not _digest the\nWord_. The two things are widely different. One may read chapter after\nchapter, book after book, and not digest so much as a single line. We\nmay read the Bible as part of a dull and profitless routine, but,\nthrough lack of the ruminating powers--the digestive organs, we derive\nno profit whatsoever. This should be carefully looked into. The\ncattle that browse on the green may teach us a wholesome lesson. They\nfirst diligently gather up the refreshing pasture, and then calmly lie\ndown to chew the cud. Striking and beautiful picture of a Christian\nfeeding upon and inwardly digesting the precious contents of the\nvolume of inspiration! Would that there were more of this amongst us!\nWere we more accustomed to betake ourselves to the Word as the\nnecessary pasture of our souls, we should assuredly be in a more\nvigorous and healthy condition. Let us beware of reading the Bible as\na dead form--a cold duty--a piece of religious routine.\n\nThe same caution is needful in reference to the public exposition of\nthe Word. Let those who expound Scripture to their fellows first feed\nand digest for themselves,--let them read and ruminate in private, not\nmerely for others, but for themselves. It is a poor thing for a man to\nbe continually occupied in procuring food for other people, and he\nhimself dying of starvation. Then, again, let those who attend upon\nthe public ministry of the Word see that they are not doing so\nmechanically, as by the force of mere religious habit, but with an\nearnest desire to \"read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest\" what they\nhear. Then will both teachers and taught be well-conditioned, the\nspiritual life nourished and sustained, and the true character of\noutward walk exhibited.\n\nBut be it remembered that the chewing of the cud must never be\nseparated from the divided hoof. If one but partially acquainted with\nthe priest's guide-book--unpracticed in the divine ceremonial happened\nto see an animal chewing the cud, he might hastily pronounce him\nclean. This would have been a serious error. A more careful reference\nto the divine directory would at once show that he must mark the\nanimal's _walk_--that he must note the impression made by each\nmovement--that he must look for the result of the divided hoof.\n\"Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of\nthem that divide the hoof; as the camel, because he cheweth the cud,\nbut divideth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you,\" etc., etc. (Ver.\n4-6.)\n\nIn like manner the divided hoof was insufficient if not accompanied by\nthe chewing of the cud.--\"The swine, though he divide the hoof and be\ncloven-footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.\"\n(Ver. 7.) In a word, then, the two things were inseparable in the case\nof every clean animal; and as to the spiritual application, it is of\nthe very last importance, in a practical point of view. The inward\nlife and the outward walk must go together. A man may profess to love\nand feed upon--to study and ruminate over the Word of God--the pasture\nof the soul; but if his footprints along the pathway of life are not\nsuch as the Word requires, he is not clean. And on the other hand, a\nman may seem to walk with pharisaic blamelessness; but if his walk be\nnot the result of the hidden life, it is worse than worthless. There\nmust be the divine principle within, which feeds upon and digests the\nrich pasture of God's Word, else the impression of the footstep will\nbe of no avail. The value of each depends upon its inseparable\nconnection with the other.\n\nWe are here forcibly reminded of a solemn passage in the first epistle\nof John, in which the apostle furnishes us with the two marks whereby\nwe may know those that are of God.--\"In this the children of God are\nmanifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever _doeth not\nrighteousness_ is not of God, neither he that _loveth not his\nbrother_.\" (1 John iii. 10.) Here we have the two grand\ncharacteristics of the eternal life of which all true believers are\npossessed, namely, \"righteousness\" and \"love\"--the outward and the\ninward. Both must be combined. Some professing Christians are all for\nlove, so called, and some for righteousness. Neither can exist, in a\ndivine way, without the other. If that which is called love exist\nwithout practical righteousness, it will, in reality, be but a lax,\nsoft, easy-going habit of mind, which will tolerate all manner of\nerror and evil; and if that which is called righteousness exist\nwithout love, it will be a stern, proud, pharisaic, self-sufficient\ntemper of soul, resting upon the miserable basis of personal\nreputation. But where the divine life is in energy, there will ever be\nthe inward charity combined with genuine practical righteousness. The\ntwo elements are essential in the formation of true Christian\ncharacter. There must be the love that will express itself in\nreference to the very feeblest development of that which is of God,\nand, at the same time, the holiness that shrinks, with intense\nabhorrence, from all that is of Satan.\n\nWe shall now pass on to the consideration of that which the Levitical\nceremonial taught with respect to \"all that are in the waters.\" Here,\nagain, we find the double mark. \"These shall ye eat of all that are in\nthe waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the\nseas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins\nand scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the\nwaters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be\nan abomination unto you.\" (Ver. 9, 10.) Two things were necessary to\nrender a fish ceremonially clean, namely, \"fins and scales,\" which\nobviously set forth a certain fitness for the sphere and element in\nwhich the creature had to move.\n\nBut doubtless there was more than this. I believe it is our privilege\nto discern, in the natural properties with which God has endowed those\ncreatures which move in the waters, certain spiritual qualities which\nbelong to the Christian life. If a fish needs a \"fin\" to enable him to\nmove through the water, and \"scales\" to resist the action thereof, so\ndoes the believer need that spiritual capacity which enables him to\nmove onward through the scene with which he is surrounded, and, at the\nsame time, to resist its influence--to prevent its penetrating--to\nkeep it out. These are precious qualities. The fin and the scale are\npregnant with meaning--full of practical instruction to the\nChristian. They exhibit to us, in ceremonial garb, two things which we\nspecially need, namely, spiritual energy to move onward through the\nelement which surrounds us, and the power to preserve us from its\naction. The one will not avail without the other. It is of no use to\npossess a capacity to get on through the world if we are not proof\nagainst the world's influence; and though we may seem to be able to\nkeep the world out, yet if we have not the motive-power, we are\ndefective. The \"fins\" would not do without the \"scales,\" nor the\n\"scales\" without the \"fins.\" Both were required, to render a fish\nceremonially clean; and we, in order to be properly equipped, require\nto be incased against the penetrating influence of an evil world, and,\nat the same time, to be furnished with a capacity to pass rapidly on.\n\nThe whole deportment of a Christian should declare him a pilgrim and a\nstranger here. \"_Onward_\" must be his motto--ever and only onward. Let\nhis locality and his circumstances be what they may, he is to have his\neye fixed on a home beyond this perishing, passing world. He is\nfurnished, by grace, with spiritual ability to go forward--to\npenetrate energetically through all, and carry out the earnest\naspirations of his heaven-born spirit. And while thus vigorously\npushing his way onward--while \"forcing his passage to the skies,\" he\nis to keep his inward man fenced round about and fast closed up\nagainst all external influences.\n\nOh, for more of the onward bent--the upward tendency! for more holy\nfixedness of soul and profound retirement from this vain world! We\nshall have reason to bless the Lord for our meditations amid the\nceremonial shadows of the book of Leviticus if we are led thereby to\nlong more intensely after those graces which though so dimly portrayed\nthere are nevertheless so manifestly needful for us.\n\nFrom verse 13 to verse 24 of our chapter, we have the law with respect\nto birds. All of the carnivorous kind, that is, all that fed on flesh,\nwere unclean; the omnivorous, or those who could eat any thing, were\nunclean; all those which though furnished with power to soar into the\nheavens would nevertheless grovel upon the earth were unclean. As to\nthe latter class, there were some exceptional cases (ver. 21, 22.);\nbut the general rule, the fixed principle, the standing ordinance, was\nas distinct as possible--\"All fowls that creep, going upon all fours,\nshall be an abomination unto you.\" (Ver. 20.) All this is very simple\nin its instruction to us. Those fowls that could feed upon flesh,\nthose that could swallow any thing or every thing, and all groveling\nfowls, were to be unclean to the Israel of God, because so pronounced\nby the God of Israel; nor can the spiritual mind have any difficulty\nin discerning the fitness of such an ordinance. We can not only trace\nin the habits of the above three classes of fowl the just ground of\ntheir being pronounced unclean, but we can also see in them the\nstriking exhibition of that in nature which is to be strenuously\nguarded against by every true Christian. Such an one is called to\nrefuse every thing of a carnal nature. Moreover, he cannot feed\npromiscuously upon every thing that comes before him. He must \"try the\nthings that differ;\" he must \"take heed what he hears;\" he must\nexercise a discerning mind, a spiritual judgment, a heavenly taste.\nFinally, he must use his wings; he must rise on the pinions of faith,\nand find his place in the celestial sphere to which he belongs. In\nshort, there must be nothing groveling, nothing promiscuous, nothing\nunclean, for the Christian.\n\nAs to \"creeping things,\" the following was the general rule: \"And\nevery creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an\nabomination; it shall not be eaten.\" (Ver. 41.) How wonderful to think\nof the condescending grace of Jehovah! He could stoop to give\ndirections about a crawling reptile. He would not leave His people at\na loss as to the most trivial affair. The priest's guide-book\ncontained the most ample instructions as to every thing. He desired to\nkeep His people free from the defilement consequent upon touching,\ntasting, or handling aught that was unclean. They were not their own,\nand hence they were not to do as they pleased. They belonged to\nJehovah; His name was called upon them; they were identified with Him.\nHis Word was to be their grand regulating standard in every case. From\nit they were to learn the ceremonial _status_ of beasts, birds,\nfishes, and creeping things. They were not to think their own\nthoughts, to exercise their own reasoning powers, or be guided by\ntheir own imaginations in such matters. _God's Word was to be their\nsole directory._ Other nations might eat what they pleased, but Israel\nenjoyed the high privilege of eating that only which was pleasing to\nJehovah.\n\nNor was it as to the mere matter of _eating_ aught that was unclean\nthat the people of God were so jealously guarded. Bare _contact_ was\nforbidden. (See ver. 8, 24, 26-28, 31-41.) It was impossible for a\nmember of the Israel of God to touch that which was unclean without\ncontracting defilement. This is a principle largely unfolded both in\nthe law and the prophets.--\"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 'Ask ye now\nthe priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the\nskirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage,\nor wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy?' And the priests\nanswered and said, 'No.' Then said Haggai, 'If one that is unclean by\na dead body _touch_ any of these, shall it be unclean?' And the\npriests answered and said, 'It shall be unclean.'\" (Hag. ii. 11-13.)\nJehovah would have His people holy in all things. They were neither to\neat nor touch aught that was unclean.--\"Ye shall not make yourselves\nabominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye\nmake yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.\"\nThen follows the powerful reason for all this careful\nseparation.--\"_For I am the Lord your God_: ye shall therefore\nsanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; _for I am holy_: neither\nshall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that\ncreepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of\nthe land of Egypt, to be _your God_: ye shall therefore be holy, _for\nI am holy_.\" (Ver. 43-45.)\n\nIt is well to see that the personal holiness of God's people--their\nentire separation from all manner of uncleanness, flows out of their\nrelationship to Him. It is not upon the principle of \"Stand by\nthyself: I am holier than thou;\" but simply this: \"God is holy,\" and\ntherefore all who are brought into association with Him must be holy\nlikewise. It is in every way worthy of God that _His_ people should be\nholy. \"Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh Thy house, O\nLord, forever.\" What else save holiness could become the house of such\nan One as Jehovah? If any one had asked an Israelite of old, Why do\nyou shrink so from that reptile which crawls along the path? He would\nhave replied, Jehovah is holy, and I belong to Him. He has said,\n\"Touch not.\" So also now, if a Christian be asked why he walks apart\nfrom the ten thousand things in which the men of this world\nparticipate, his answer is simply to be, _My Father is holy_. This is\nthe true foundation of personal holiness. The more we contemplate the\ndivine character, and enter into the power of our relationship to God,\nin Christ, by the energy of the Holy Ghost, the holier we must, of\nnecessity, be. There can be no progress in the condition of holiness\ninto which the believer is introduced, but there is and ought to be\nprogress in the apprehension, experience, and practical exhibition of\nthat holiness. These things should never be confounded. All believers\nare in the same condition of holiness or sanctification, but their\npractical measure may vary to any conceivable degree. This is easily\nunderstood. The condition arises out of our _being brought_ nigh to\nGod by the blood of the cross; the practical measure will depend upon\nour _keeping_ nigh by the power of the Spirit. It is not a man setting\nup for something superior in himself--for a greater degree of personal\nsanctity than is ordinarily possessed--for being in any wise better\nthan his neighbors. All such pretensions are utterly contemptible in\nthe judgment of every right-thinking person. But then, if God, in His\nexceeding grace, stoop down to our low estate and lift us into the\nholy elevation of His blessed presence, in association with Christ,\nhas He not a right to prescribe what our character is to be as thus\nbrought nigh? Who could think of calling in question a truth so\nobvious? And further, are we not bound to aim at the maintenance of\nthat character which He prescribes? Are we to be accused of\npresumption for so doing? Was it presumption in an Israelite to refuse\nto touch \"a creeping thing\"? Nay, it would have been presumption of\nthe most daring and dangerous character to have done so. True, he\nmight not have been able to make an uncircumcised stranger understand\nor appreciate the reason of his conduct; but this was not his\nprovince. Jehovah had said, \"Touch not,\" not because an Israelite was\nholier in himself than a stranger, but because Jehovah was holy, and\nIsrael belonged to Him. It needed the eye and the heart of a\ncircumcised disciple of the law of God, in order to discern what was\nclean and what was not. An alien knew no difference. Thus it must ever\nbe. It is only Wisdom's children that can justify her and approve her\nheavenly ways.\n\nEre turning from the eleventh chapter of Leviticus, my reader might,\nwith much spiritual profit, compare it with the tenth chapter of Acts,\nver. 11-16. How strange it must have appeared to one who had, from his\nearliest days, been taught the principles of the Mosaic ritual, to see\na vessel descending from heaven, \"wherein were _all manner_ of\nfour-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and _creeping\nthings_, and fowls of the air;\" and not only to see such a vessel so\nfilled, but also to hear a voice, saying, \"Rise, Peter; kill and eat.\"\nHow wonderful! No examination of hoofs or habits! There was no need of\nthis. The vessel and its contents had come from heaven. This was\nenough. The Jew might ensconce himself behind the narrow inclosures of\nthe Jewish ritual, and exclaim, \"Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten\nany thing that is common or unclean;\" but then the tide of divine\ngrace was rising majestically above all such inclosures, in order to\nembrace, in its mighty compass, \"all manner\" of objects, and bear them\nupward to heaven, in the power and on the authority of those precious\nwords, \"What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.\" It\nmattered not what was in the vessel if God had cleansed it. The\nAuthor of the book of Leviticus was about to raise the thoughts of\nHis servant above the barriers which that book had erected, into all\nthe magnificence of Heaven's grace. He would teach him that true\ncleanness--the cleanness which Heaven demanded--was no longer to\nconsist in chewing the cud, dividing the hoof, or any such ceremonial\nmarks, but in being washed in the blood of the Lamb, which cleanseth\nfrom all sin, and renders the believer clean enough to tread the\nsapphire pavement of the heavenly courts.\n\nThis was a noble lesson for a Jew to learn; it was a divine lesson,\nbefore the light of which the shadows of the old economy must pass\naway. The hand of sovereign grace has thrown open the door of the\nkingdom, but not to admit aught that is unclean. This could not be.\nNothing unclean can enter heaven. But then, a cloven hoof was no\nlonger to be the criterion, but \"_what God hath cleansed_.\" When God\ncleanses a man, he must needs be clean. Peter was about to be sent to\nopen the kingdom to the Gentiles, as he had already opened it to the\nJews, and his Jewish heart needed to be enlarged. He needed to get\nabove the dark shadows of a by-gone age, into the meridian light that\nwas shining from an open heaven, in virtue of a completed sacrifice.\nHe needed to get out of the narrow current of Jewish prejudices, and\nbe borne upon the bosom of that mighty tide of grace which was about\nto roll through the length and breadth of a lost world. He had to\nlearn, too, that the standard by which true cleanness must be\nregulated was no longer carnal, ceremonial, and earthly, but\nspiritual, moral, and heavenly. Assuredly, we may say, these were\nnoble lessons for the apostle of the circumcision to learn upon the\nhousetop of Simon the tanner. They were eminently calculated to\nsoften, to expand, and elevate a mind which had been trained amid the\ncontracting influences of the Jewish system. We bless the Lord for\nthese precious lessons. We bless Him for the large and wealthy place\nin which He has set us, by the blood of the cross. We bless Him that\nwe are no longer hemmed round about by \"Touch not this; taste not\nthat; handle not the other thing;\" but that His Word assures us that\n\"every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be\nreceived with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God\nand prayer.\" (1 Tim. iv. 4, 5.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\nThis brief section reads out to us, after its own peculiar fashion,\nthe double lesson of \"man's ruin and God's remedy.\" But though the\nfashion is peculiar, the lesson is most distinct and impressive. It\nis, at once, deeply humbling and divinely comforting. The effect of\nall Scripture, when interpreted to one's own soul directly by the\npower of the Holy Ghost, is to lead us out of self to Christ. Wherever\nwe see our fallen nature, at whatever stage of its history we\ncontemplate it--whether in its conception, at its birth, or at any\npoint along its whole career, from the womb to the coffin, it wears\nthe double stamp of infirmity and defilement. This is sometimes\nforgotten amid the glitter and glare, the pomp and fashion, the wealth\nand splendor, of human life. The mind of man is fruitful in devices to\ncover his humiliation. In various ways he seeks to ornament and gild,\nand put on an appearance of strength and glory, but it is all vain. He\nhas only to be seen as he enters this world, a poor helpless creature,\nor as he passes away from it, to take his place with the clod of the\nvalley, in order to have a most convincing proof of the hollowness of\nall his pride, the vanity of all his glory. Those whose path through\nthis world has been brightened by what man calls glory, have entered\nin nakedness and helplessness, and retreated amid disease and death.\n\nNor is this all. It is not merely helplessness that belongs to\nman--that characterizes him as he enters this life: there is\ndefilement also. \"Behold,\" says the Psalmist, \"I was shapen in\niniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.\" (Ps. li. 5.) \"How can\nhe be clean that is born of a woman?\" (Job xxv. 4.) In the chapter\nbefore us, we are taught that the conception and birth of \"a\nman-child\" involved \"seven days\" of ceremonial defilement to the\nmother, together with thirty-three days of separation from the\nsanctuary; and these periods were doubled in the case of \"a\nmaid-child.\" Has this no voice? Can we not read herein a humbling\nlesson? Does it not declare to us, in language not to be\nmisunderstood, that man is \"an unclean thing,\" and that he needs the\nblood of atonement to cleanse him? Truly so. Man may imagine that he\ncan work out a righteousness of his own, he may vainly boast of the\ndignity of human nature, he may put on a lofty air and assume a\nhaughty bearing as he moves across the stage of life; but if he would\njust retire for a few moments and ponder over the short section of our\nbook which now lies open before us, his pride, pomp, dignity, and\nrighteousness would speedily vanish, and instead thereof, he might\nfind the solid basis of all true dignity, as well as the ground of\ndivine righteousness, in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nThe shadow of this cross passes before us in a double way in our\nchapter; first, in the circumcision of the \"man-child,\" whereby he\nbecame enrolled as a member of the Israel of God; and secondly, in the\nburnt-offering and sin-offering, whereby the mother was restored from\nevery defiling influence, rendered fit once more to approach the\nsanctuary and to come in contact with holy things. \"And when the days\nof her purifying are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall\nbring a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offering, and a young\npigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering, unto the door of the\ntabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest; who shall offer it\nbefore the Lord, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be\ncleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that\nhath born a male or a female.\" (Ver. 6, 7.) The death of Christ in its\ntwo grand aspects is here introduced to our thoughts as the only thing\nwhich could possibly meet and perfectly remove the defilement\nconnected with man's natural birth. The burnt-offering presents the\ndeath of Christ according to the divine estimate thereof; the\nsin-offering, on the other hand, presents the death of Christ as\nbearing upon the sinner's need.\n\n\"And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two\nturtles, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt-offering and the\nother for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for\nher, and she shall be clean.\" Nothing but blood-shedding could impart\ncleanness. The cross is the only remedy for man's infirmity and man's\ndefilement. Wherever that glorious work is apprehended, by faith,\nthere is perfect cleanness enjoyed. Now, the apprehension may be\nfeeble, the faith may be but wavering, the experience may be shallow;\nbut let the reader remember, for his soul's joy and comfort, that it\nis not the depth of his experience, the stability of his faith, or the\nstrength of his apprehension, but the divine value, the changeless\nefficacy, of the blood of Jesus. This gives great rest to the heart.\nThe sacrifice of the cross is the same to every member of the Israel\nof God whatever be his _status_ in the assembly. The tender\nconsiderateness of our ever-gracious God is seen in the fact that the\nblood of a turtle-dove was as efficacious for the poor as the blood of\na bullock for the rich. The full value of the atoning work was alike\nmaintained and exhibited in each. Had it not been so, the humble\nIsraelite, if involved in ceremonial defilement, might, as she gazed\nupon the well-stocked pastures of some wealthy neighbor, exclaim,\nAlas! what shall I do? how shall I be cleansed? how shall I get back\nto my place and privilege in the assembly? I have neither flock nor\nherd: I am poor and needy. But, blessed be God, the case of such an\none was fully met. A pigeon or turtle-dove was quite sufficient. The\nsame perfect and beautiful grace shines forth in the case of the leper\nin chapter xiv. of our book--\"And _if he be poor and cannot get so\nmuch_, then he shall take, etc.... And he shall offer the one of the\nturtle-doves, or of the young pigeons, _such as he can get; even such\nas he is able to get_.... This is the law of him in whom is the plague\nof leprosy, _whose hand is not able to get_ that which pertaineth to\nhis cleansing.\" (Ver. 21, 30-32.)\n\nGrace meets the needy one just where he is and as he is. The atoning\nblood is brought within the reach of the very lowest, the very\npoorest, the very feeblest. All who need it can have it. \"If he be\npoor\"--what then? Let him be cast aside? Ah, no; Israel's God could\nnever so deal with the poor and needy. There is ample provision for\nall such in the gracious expression, \"Such as he can get; even such as\nhe is able to get.\" Most exquisite grace! \"To the poor the gospel is\npreached.\" None can say, The blood of Jesus was beyond me. Each can be\nchallenged with the inquiry, How near would you have it brought to\nyou? \"I bring _near_ My righteousness.\" How \"near\"? So near, that it\nis \"to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the\nungodly.\" (Rom. iv. 5.) Again, \"The Word is _nigh_ thee.\" How \"nigh\"?\nSo nigh, \"that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,\nand shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the\ndead, thou shalt be saved.\" (Rom. x. 9.) So also that most touching\nand beautiful invitation, \"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to\nthe waters, and _he that hath no money_.\" (Is. lv. 1.)\n\nWhat matchless grace shines in the expressions, \"To him that _worketh\nnot_,\" and, \"He that hath _no money_\"! They are as like God as they\nare unlike man. Salvation is as free as the air we breathe. Did we\ncreate the air? did we mingle its component parts? No; but we enjoy\nit, and, by enjoying it, get power to live and act for Him who made\nit. So is it in the matter of salvation. We get it without a fraction,\nwithout an effort. We feed upon the wealth of another, we rest in the\nwork finished by another; and, moreover, it is by so feeding and\nresting that we are enabled to work for Him on whose wealth we feed\nand in whose work we rest. This is a grand gospel paradox, perfectly\ninexplicable to legality, but beautifully plain to faith. Divine grace\ndelights in making provision for those who are \"not able\" to make\nprovision for themselves.\n\nBut there is another invaluable lesson furnished by this twelfth\nchapter of Leviticus. We not only read herein the grace of God to the\npoor, but, by comparing its closing verse with Luke ii. 24, we learn\nthe amazing depth to which God stooped in order to manifest that\ngrace. The Lord Jesus Christ--God manifest in the flesh--the pure and\nspotless Lamb--the Holy One, who knew no sin, was \"made of a woman,\"\nand that woman (wondrous mystery!), having borne in her womb, and\nbrought forth, that pure and perfect, that holy and spotless, human\nbody, had to undergo the usual ceremonial, and accomplish the days of\nher purification, according to the law of Moses. And not only do we\nread divine grace in the fact of her having thus to purify herself,\nbut also the mode in which this was accomplished.--\"And to offer a\nsacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, _a\npair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons_.\" From this simple\ncircumstance we learn that the reputed parents of our blessed Lord\nJesus were so poor as to be obliged to take advantage of the gracious\nprovision made for those whose means did not afford \"a lamb for a\nburnt-offering.\" What a thought! The Lord of glory, the most high God,\nPossessor of heaven and earth, the One to whom pertained \"the cattle\nupon a thousand hills\"--yea, the wealth of the universe, appeared in\nthe world which His hands had made, in the narrow circumstances of\nhumble life. The Levitical economy had made provision for the poor,\nand the mother of Jesus availed herself thereof. Truly there is a\nprofound lesson in this for the human heart. The Lord Jesus did not\nmake His appearance in this world in connection with the great or the\nnoble. He was pre-eminently a poor man. He took His place with the\npoor.--\"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He\nwas rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that ye through His\npoverty might be rich.\" (2 Cor. viii. 9.)\n\nMay it ever be our joy to feed upon this precious grace of our Lord\nJesus Christ, by which we have been made rich for time and for\neternity. He emptied Himself of all that love could give, that we\nmight be filled; He stripped Himself that we might be clothed; He died\nthat we might live. He, in the greatness of His grace, traveled down\nfrom the height of divine wealth into the depth of human poverty, in\norder that we might be raised from the dunghill of nature's ruin, to\ntake our place amid the princes of His people forever. Oh that the\nsense of this grace, wrought in our hearts by the power of the Holy\nGhost, may constrain us to a more unreserved surrender of ourselves to\nHim, to whom we owe our present and everlasting felicity, our riches,\nour life, our all!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XIII. & XIV.\n\n\nOf all the functions which, according to the Mosaic ritual, the priest\nhad to discharge, none demanded more patient attention or more strict\nadherence to the divine guide-book than the discernment and proper\ntreatment of leprosy. This fact must be obvious to every one who\nstudies, with any measure of care, the very extensive and important\nsection of our book at which we have now arrived.\n\nThere were two things which claimed the priest's vigilant care,\nnamely, the purity of the assembly, and the grace which could not\nadmit of the exclusion of any member save on the most clearly\nestablished grounds. Holiness could not permit any one to remain in\nwho ought to be out; and on the other hand, grace would not have any\none out who ought to be in. Hence, therefore, there was the most\nurgent need, on the part of the priest, of watchfulness, calmness,\nwisdom, patience, tenderness, and enlarged experience. Things might\nseem trifling which in reality were serious, and things might look\nlike leprosy which were not it at all. The greatest care and coolness\nwere needed. A judgment rashly formed, a conclusion hastily arrived\nat, might involve the most serious consequences, either as regards the\nassembly or some individual member thereof.\n\nThis will account for the frequent occurrence of such expressions as\nthe following; namely, \"The priest shall look\"--\"The priest shall shut\nup him that hath the plague _seven days_\"--\"And the priest shall look\non him the seventh day\"--\"Then the priest shall shut him up _seven\ndays more_\"--\"And the priest shall _look on him again_ the seventh\nday\"--\"And the priest shall _see him_\"--\"Then the priest shall\n_consider_.\" No case was to be hastily judged or rashly decided. No\nopinion was to be formed from mere hearsay. Personal observation,\npriestly discernment, calm reflection, strict adherence to the written\nWord--the holy, infallible guide-book--all these things were\nimperatively demanded of the priest if he would form a sound judgment\nof each case. He was not to be guided by his own thoughts, his own\nfeelings, his own wisdom, in any thing. He had ample guidance in the\nWord, if only he was subject thereto. Every point, every feature,\nevery movement, every variation, every shade and character, every\npeculiar symptom and affection--all was provided for, with divine\nfullness and forethought, so that the priest only needed to be\nacquainted with and subject to the Word in all things, in order to be\npreserved from ten thousand mistakes.\n\nThus much as to the priest and his holy responsibilities.\n\nWe shall now consider the disease of leprosy, as developed in a\nperson, in a garment, or in a house.\n\nLooking at this disease in a physical point of view, nothing can\npossibly be more loathsome; and being, so far as man is concerned,\ntotally incurable, it furnishes a most vivid and appalling picture of\nsin--sin in one's nature, sin in his circumstances, sin in an\nassembly. What a lesson for the soul in the fact that such a vile and\nhumiliating disease should be used as a type of moral evil, whether in\na member of God's assembly, in the circumstances of any member, or in\nthe assembly itself!\n\nI. And first, then, as to leprosy in a person; or in other words, the\nworking of moral evil, or of that which might seem to be evil, in any\nmember of the assembly. This is a matter of grave and solemn import--a\nmatter demanding the utmost vigilance and care on the part of all who\nare concerned in the good of souls and in the glory of God, as\ninvolved in the well-being and purity of His assembly as a whole or of\neach individual member thereof.\n\nIt is important to see that while the broad principles of leprosy and\nits cleansing apply in a secondary sense to any sinner, yet in the\nscripture now before us, the matter is presented in connection with\nthose who were God's recognized people. The person who is here seen as\nthe subject of priestly examination is a member of the assembly of\nGod. It is well to apprehend this. God's assembly must be kept pure,\nbecause it is His dwelling-place. No leper can be allowed to remain\nwithin the hallowed precincts of Jehovah's habitation.\n\nBut then, mark the care, the vigilance, the perfect patience,\ninculcated upon the priest, lest aught that was not leprosy might be\ntreated as such, or lest aught that really was leprosy might be\nsuffered to escape. Many things might appear \"in the skin\"--the place\nof manifestation--\"like the plague of leprosy,\" which, upon patient,\npriestly investigation, would be found to be merely superficial. This\nwas to be carefully attended to. Some blemish might make its\nappearance upon the surface, which, though demanding the jealous care\nof the one who had to act for God, was not, in reality, defiling. And\nyet, that which seemed but a superficial blemish might prove to be\nsomething deeper than the skin, something below the surface, something\naffecting the hidden springs of the constitution. All this claimed the\nmost intense care on the part of the priest. (See ver. 2-11.) Some\nslight neglect, some trifling oversight, might lead to disastrous\nconsequences. It might lead to the defilement of the assembly, by the\npresence of a confirmed leper, or to the expulsion, for some\nsuperficial blemish, of a genuine member of the Israel of God.\n\nNow, there is a rich fund of instruction in all this for the people of\nGod. There is a difference between personal infirmity and the positive\nenergy of evil--between mere defects and blemishes in the outward\ncharacter, and the activity of sin in the members. No doubt it is\nimportant to watch against our infirmities; for, if not watched,\njudged, and guarded against, they may become the source of positive\nevil. (See ver. 14-28.) Every thing of nature must be judged and kept\ndown. We must not make any allowance for personal infirmity _in\nourselves_, though we should make ample allowance for it _in others_.\nTake, for example, the matter of an irritable temper. I should judge\nit in myself; I should make allowance for it in another. It may, like\n\"the burning boil\" in the case of an Israelite (ver. 19, 20.), prove\nthe source of real defilement--the ground of exclusion from the\nassembly. Every form of weakness must be watched, lest it become an\noccasion of sin. \"A bald forehead\" was not leprosy, but it was that in\nwhich leprosy might appear, and hence it had to be watched. There may\nbe a hundred things which are not in themselves sinful, but which may\nbecome the occasion of sin if not diligently looked after. Nor is it\nmerely a question of what, in our estimation, may be termed blots,\nblemishes, and personal infirmities, but even of what our hearts might\nfeel disposed to boast of. Wit, humor, vivacity of spirit and\ntemper--all these may become the source and centre of defilement. Each\none has something to guard against--something to keep him ever upon\nthe watch-tower. How happy it is that we have a Father's heart to come\nto and count on with respect to all such things! We have the precious\nprivilege of coming, at all times, into the presence of unrebuking,\nunupbraiding love, there to tell out all, and obtain grace to help in\nall, and full victory over all. We need not be discouraged so long as\nwe see such a motto inscribed on the door of our Father's\ntreasury--\"He giveth more grace.\" Precious motto! It has no limit: it\nis bottomless and boundless.\n\nWe shall now proceed to inquire what was done in every case in which\nthe plague of leprosy was unquestionably and unmistakably defined. The\nGod of Israel could bear with infirmity, blemish, and failure; but the\nmoment it became a case of defilement, whether in the head, the beard,\nthe forehead, or any other part, it could not be tolerated in the holy\nassembly. \"The leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent,\nand his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and\nshall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be\nin him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone;\nwithout the camp shall his habitation be.\" (Ver. 45, 46.) Here was the\nleper's condition, the leper's occupation, the leper's place. With\nrent garments, bare head, and covered lip; crying, \"Unclean, unclean;\"\nand dwelling outside, in the dreary solitude--the dismal desert waste.\nWhat could be more humiliating, what more depressing, than this? \"He\nshall dwell alone.\" He was unfit for communion or companionship. He\nwas excluded from the only spot in all the world in which Jehovah's\npresence was known or enjoyed.\n\nReader, behold, in the poor, solitary leper, a vivid type of one in\nwhom sin is working. This is really what it means. It is not, as we\nshall see presently, a helpless, ruined, guilty, convicted sinner,\nwhose guilt and misery have come thoroughly out, and who is,\ntherefore, a fit subject for the love of God and the blood of Christ.\nNo; we see in the excluded leper one in whom sin is actually\nworking--one in whom there is the positive energy of evil. This is\nwhat defiles and shuts out from the enjoyment of the divine presence\nand the communion of saints. So long as sin is working, there can be\nno fellowship with God or with His people. \"He shall dwell alone;\nwithout the camp shall his habitation be.\" How long? \"All the days\nwherein _the plague_ shall be in him.\" This is a great practical\ntruth. The energy of evil is the death-blow to communion. There may be\nthe outward appearance--the mere form--the hollow profession, but\ncommunion there can be none so long as the energy of evil is there.\nIt matters not what the character or amount of the evil may be--if it\nwere but the weight of a feather--if it were but some foolish thought,\nso long as it continues to work, it must hinder communion--it must\ncause a suspension of fellowship. It is when it rises to a head--when\nit comes to the surface--when it is brought thoroughly out that it can\nbe perfectly met and put away by the grace of God and by the blood of\nthe Lamb.\n\nThis leads us to a deeply interesting point in connection with the\nleper--a point which must prove a complete paradox to all save those\nwho understand God's mode of dealing with sinners. \"And if a leprosy\nbreak out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of\nhim that hath the plague, from his head even to his foot, wheresoever\nthe priest looketh; then the priest shall consider; and, behold, if\nthe leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean\nthat hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean.\" (Chap.\nxiii. 12, 13.) The moment a sinner is in his true place before God,\nthe whole question is settled: directly his real character is fully\nbrought out, there is no further difficulty. He may have to pass\nthrough much painful exercise ere he reaches this point--exercise\nconsequent upon his refusal to take his true place--to bring out \"all\nthe truth\" with respect to what he is; but the moment he is brought to\nsay, from his heart, \"_Just as I am_,\" the free grace of God flows\ndown to him. \"When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my\nroaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon\nme: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.\" (Ps. xxxii. 3,\n4.) How long did this painful exercise continue? Until the whole truth\nwas brought out--until all that which was working inwardly came fully\nto the surface.--\"I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity\nhave I not hid. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions unto the\nLord,' and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.\" (Ver. 5.)\n\nIt is deeply interesting to mark the progress of the Lord's dealing\nwith the leprous man, from the moment that the suspicion is raised, by\ncertain features in the place of manifestation, until the disease\ncovers the whole man, \"from the crown of the head unto the sole of the\nfoot.\" There was no haste and no indifference. God ever enters the\nplace of judgment with a slow and measured pace; but when He does\nenter, He must act according to the claims of His nature. He can\npatiently investigate. He can wait for \"seven days;\" and should there\nbe the slightest variation in the symptoms, He can wait \"seven days\nmore;\" but the moment it is found to be the positive working of\nleprosy, there can be no toleration. \"Without the camp shall his\nhabitation be.\" How long? Until the disease comes fully to the\nsurface. \"If the leprosy have covered _all_ his flesh, he shall\npronounce him clean.\" This is a most precious and interesting point.\nThe very smallest speck of leprosy was intolerable to God; and yet\nwhen the whole man was covered, from head to foot, he was pronounced\nclean--that is, he was a proper subject for the grace of God and the\nblood of atonement.\n\nThus is it, in every case, with the sinner. God is \"of purer eyes than\nto behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity\" (Hab. i. 13.); and yet\nthe moment a sinner takes his true place, as one thoroughly lost,\nguilty, and undone--as one in whom there is not so much as a single\npoint on which the eye of Infinite Holiness can rest with\ncomplacency--as one who is so bad that he cannot possibly be worse,\nthere is an immediate, a perfect, a divine settlement of the entire\nmatter. The grace of God deals with sinners, and when I know myself to\nbe a sinner, I know myself to be one whom Christ came to save. The\nmore clearly any one can prove me to be a sinner, the more clearly he\nestablishes my title to the love of God and the work of Christ. \"For\nChrist also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that\nHe might bring us to God.\" (1 Pet. iii. 18.) Now, if I am \"unjust,\" I\nam one of those very people for whom Christ died, and I am entitled to\nall the benefits of His death. \"There is not a just man upon earth;\"\nand inasmuch as I am \"upon earth,\" it is plain that I am \"unjust,\" and\nit is equally plain that Christ died for me--that He suffered for my\nsins. Since, therefore, Christ died for me, it is my happy privilege\nto enter into the immediate enjoyment of the fruits of His sacrifice.\nThis is as plain as plainness itself. It demands no effort\nwhatsoever. I am not called to be any thing but just what I am. I am\nnot called to feel, to experience, to realize any thing. The Word of\nGod assures me that Christ died for me just as I am; and if He died\nfor me, I am as safe as He is Himself. There is nothing against me:\nChrist met all. He not only suffered for my \"_sins_,\" but He \"made an\nend of _sin_.\" He abolished the entire system in which, as a child of\nthe first Adam, I stood, and He has introduced me into a new position,\nin association with Himself, and there I stand before God, free from\nall charge of sin and all fear of judgment.\n\n \"Just as I am--without one plea,\n But that Thy blood was shed for me,\n And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,\n O Lamb of God, I come!\"\n\nHow do I know that His blood was shed for me? By the Scriptures.\nBlessed, solid, eternal ground of knowledge! Christ suffered for sins:\nI have gotten sins. Christ died, \"the just for the unjust:\" I am\nunjust. Wherefore the death of Christ appropriates itself to me as\nfully, as immediately, and as divinely as though I were the only\nsinner upon earth. It is not a question of my appropriation,\nrealization, or experience. Many souls harass themselves about this.\nHow often has one heard such language as the following: \"Oh, I believe\nthat Christ died for sinners, but I cannot _realize_ that my sins are\nforgiven. I cannot apply, I cannot appropriate, I do not experience\nthe benefit of Christ's death\"! All this is self, and not Christ; it\nis feeling, and not Scripture. If we search from cover to cover of\nthe blessed volume, we shall not find a syllable about being saved by\nrealization, experience, or appropriation. The gospel applies itself\nto all who are on the ground of being lost. Christ died for sinners.\nThat is just what I am; wherefore He died for me. How do I know this?\nis it because I feel it? By no means. How then? By the Word of God.\n\"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; He was buried,\nand rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.\" (1 Cor. xv.\n3, 4.) Thus it is all \"according to the Scriptures.\" If it were\naccording to our feelings, we should be in a deplorable way, for our\nfeelings are hardly the same for the length of a day, but the\nScriptures are ever the same. \"Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in\nheaven.\"--\"Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name.\"\n\nNo doubt it is a very happy thing to realize, to feel, and to\nexperience; but if we put these things in the place of Christ, we\nshall neither have them nor the Christ that yields them. If I am\noccupied with Christ, I shall realize; but if I put my realization in\nplace of Christ, I shall have neither the one nor the other. This is\nthe sad condition of thousands. Instead of resting on the stable\nauthority of \"the Scriptures,\" they are ever looking into their own\nhearts, and hence they are always uncertain and, as a consequence,\nalways unhappy. A condition of doubt is a condition of torture; but\nhow can I get rid of my doubt? Simply by relying on the divine\nauthority of \"the Scriptures.\" Of what do the Scriptures testify? Of\nChrist. (John v.) They declare that Christ died for our sins, and that\nHe was raised again for our justification. (Rom. iv.) This settles\nevery thing. The self-same authority that tells me I am unjust tells\nme also that Christ died for me. Nothing can be plainer than this. If\nI were aught else than unjust, the death of Christ would not be for me\nat all; but being unjust, it is divinely fitted, divinely intended,\nand divinely applied to me. If I am occupied with any thing in, of, or\nabout myself, it is plain I have not entered into the full spiritual\napplication of Leviticus xiii. 12, 13--I have not come to the Lamb of\nGod \"_just as I am_.\" It is when the leper is covered from head to\nfoot that he is on the true ground. It is there and there alone that\ngrace can meet him. \"Then the priest shall consider; and, behold, if\nthe leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean\nthat hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean.\" Precious\ntruth! \"Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.\" So long as I\nthink there is a single spot which is not covered with the direful\ndisease, I have not come to the end of myself. It is when my true\ncondition is fully disclosed to my view that I really understand the\nmeaning of salvation by grace.\n\nThe force of all this will be more fully apprehended when we come to\nconsider the ordinances connected with the cleansing of the leper, in\nchapter xiv. of our book. We shall now briefly enter upon the\nquestion of leprosy in a garment, as presented in chapter xiii. 47-59.\n\nII. The garment or skin suggests to the mind the idea of a man's\ncircumstances or habits. This is a deeply practical point. We are to\nwatch against the working of evil in our ways just as carefully as\nagainst evil in ourselves. The same patient investigation is\nobservable with respect to a garment as in the case of a person. There\nis no haste, neither is there any indifference.--\"The priest shall\nlook upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days.\"\nThere must be no indifference, no indolence, no carelessness. Evil may\ncreep into our habits and circumstances in numberless ways, and hence\nthe moment we perceive aught of a suspicious nature, it must be\nsubmitted to a calm, patient process of priestly investigation. It\nmust be \"shut up seven days,\" in order that it may have full time to\ndevelop itself perfectly.\n\n\"And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be\nspread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a\nskin, or in any work that is made of skin, the plague is a fretting\nleprosy; it is unclean. He shall therefore burn that garment.\" The\nwrong habit must be given up the moment I discover it. If I find\nmyself in a thoroughly wrong position, I must abandon it. The burning\nof the garment expresses the act of judgment upon evil, whether in a\nman's habits or circumstances. There must be no trifling with evil. In\ncertain cases the garment was to be \"washed,\" which expresses the\naction of the Word of God upon a man's habits. \"Then the priest shall\ncommand that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall\nshut it up _seven days more_.\" There is to be patient waiting, in\norder to ascertain the effect of the Word. \"And the priest shall look\non the plague, after that it is washed; and, behold, if the plague\nhave not changed, ... thou shalt burn it in the fire.\" When there is\nany thing radically and irremediably bad in one's position or habits,\nthe whole thing is to be given up. \"And if the priest look, and,\nbehold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he\nshall rend it out of the garment.\" The Word may produce such an effect\nas that the wrong features in a man's character, or the wrong points\nin his position, shall be given up, and the evil be got rid of; but if\nthe evil continue after all, the whole thing must be condemned and set\naside.\n\nThere is a rich mine of practical instruction in all this. We must\nlook well to the position which we occupy, the circumstances in which\nwe stand, the habits we adopt, the character we wear. There is special\nneed of watchfulness. Every suspicious symptom and trait must be\nsedulously guarded, lest it should prove, in the sequel, to be \"a\nfretting\" or \"spreading leprosy,\" whereby we ourselves and many others\nmay be defiled. We may be placed in a position attached to which there\nare certain wrong things which can be given up without entirely\nabandoning the position; and on the other hand, we may find ourselves\nin a situation in which it is impossible to \"abide with God.\" Where\nthe eye is single, the path will be plain. Where the one desire of the\nheart is to enjoy the divine presence, we shall easily discover those\nthings which tend to deprive us of that unspeakable blessing.\n\nMay our hearts be tender and sensitive; may we cultivate a deeper,\ncloser walk with God; and may we carefully guard against every form of\ndefilement, whether in person, in habit, or in association.\n\nWe shall now proceed to consider the beauteous and significant\nordinances connected with the cleansing of the leper, in which we\nshall find some of the most precious truths of the gospel presented to\nus.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'This shall be the law of the\nleper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the\npriest: and the priest shall go forth out of the camp.\" (Chap. xiv.\n1-3.) We have already seen the place which the leper occupied. He was\noutside the camp, in the place of moral distance from God--from His\nsanctuary and His assembly. Moreover, he dwelt in dreary solitude, in\na condition of uncleanness. He was beyond the reach of human aid, and\nas for himself, he could only communicate defilement to every one and\nevery thing he touched. It was therefore obviously impossible that he\ncould do aught to cleanse himself. If, indeed, he could only defile by\nhis very touch, how could he possibly cleanse himself? how could he\ncontribute towards, or co-operate in, his cleansing? Impossible. As\nan unclean leper, he could not do so much as a single thing for\nhimself; _all_ had to be done _for_ him. He could not make his way to\nGod, but God could make His way to him. He was shut up to God. There\nwas no help for him either in himself or in his fellow-man. It is\nclear that one leper could not cleanse another; and it is equally\nclear that if a leper touched a clean person, he rendered him unclean.\nHis _only_ resource was in God. He was to be a debtor to grace for\nevery thing.\n\nHence, we read, \"The priest shall go forth out of the camp.\" It is not\nsaid, The leper shall go. This was wholly out of the question. It was\nof no use talking to the leper about going or doing. He was consigned\nto dreary solitude; whither could he go? He was involved in helpless\ndefilement; what could he do? He might long for fellowship and long to\nbe clean, but his longings were those of a lonely helpless leper. He\nmight make efforts after cleansing, but his efforts could but prove\nhim unclean, and tend to spread defilement. Before ever he could be\npronounced \"clean,\" a work had to be wrought for him--a work which he\ncould neither do nor help to do--a work which had to be wholly\naccomplished by another. The leper was called to \"stand still\" and\nbehold the priest doing a work in virtue of which the leprosy could be\nperfectly cleansed. The priest accomplished _all_: the leper did\n_nothing_.\n\n\"Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed,\ntwo birds, alive and clean, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.\nAnd the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an\nearthen vessel over running water.\" In the priest going forth from the\ncamp--forth from God's dwelling-place--we behold the blessed Lord\nJesus coming down from the bosom of the Father, His eternal\ndwelling-place, into this polluted world of ours, where He beheld us\nsunk in the polluting leprosy of sin. He, like the good Samaritan,\n\"came where we were.\" He did not come half-way merely; He did not come\nnine-tenths of the way; He came all the way. This was indispensable.\nHe could not consistently with the holy claims of the throne of God\nhave bidden our leprosy to depart had He remained in the bosom. He\ncould call worlds into existence by the word of His mouth, but when\nleprous sinners had to be cleansed, something more was needed. \"God so\nloved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.\" When worlds were\nto be framed, God had but to speak; when sinners had to be saved, He\nhad to give His Son. \"In this was manifested the love of God towards\nus, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that\nwe might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but\nthat He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our\nsins.\" (1 John iv. 9, 10.)\n\nBut there was far more to be accomplished than the mission and\nincarnation of the Son. It would have availed the leper but little\nindeed had the priest merely gone forth from the camp and looked upon\nhis low and forlorn condition. Blood-shedding was essentially\nnecessary ere leprosy could be removed. The death of a spotless victim\nwas needed. \"Without shedding of blood is no remission.\" (Heb. ix.\n22.) And be it observed that the shedding of blood was the real basis\nof the leper's cleansing. It was not a mere circumstance, which, in\nconjunction with others, contributed to the leper's cleansing. By no\nmeans. The giving up of the life was the grand and all-important fact.\nWhen this was accomplished, the way was open, every barrier was\nremoved, God could deal in perfect grace with the leper. This point\nshould be distinctly laid hold of if my reader would fully enter into\nthe glorious doctrine of the blood.\n\n\"And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an\nearthen vessel over running water.\" Here we have the acknowledged type\nof the death of Christ, \"who through the eternal Spirit offered\nHimself without spot to God.\" \"He was crucified in weakness.\" (Heb.\nix.; 2 Cor. xiii.) The greatest, the mightiest, the most glorious, the\nmost momentous work that ever was accomplished, throughout the wide\nuniverse of God, was wrought \"in weakness.\" Oh, my reader, how\nterrible a thing must sin be in the judgment of God when His own\nbeloved Son had to come down from heaven and hang upon yonder cursed\ntree, a spectacle to men, to angels, and to devils, in order that you\nand I might be forgiven! And what a type of sin have we in leprosy!\nWho would have thought that that little \"bright spot\" appearing on the\nperson of some member of the congregation was a matter of such grave\nconsequence? But, ah! that little \"bright spot\" was nothing less than\nthe energy of evil in the place of manifestation. It was the index of\nthe dreadful working of sin in the nature; and ere that person could\nbe fitted for a place in the assembly, or for the enjoyment of\ncommunion with a holy God, the Son of God had to leave those bright\nheavens and descend into the lowest parts of the earth, in order to\nmake a full atonement for that which exhibited itself merely in the\nform of a little \"bright spot.\" Let us remember this. Sin is a\ndreadful thing in the estimation of God. He cannot tolerate so much as\na single sinful thought. Before one such thought could be forgiven,\nChrist had to die upon the cross. The most trifling sin (if any sin\ncan be called trifling,) demanded nothing less than God's eternal and\ncoequal Son. But, eternal praise be to God, what sin demanded,\nredeeming love freely gave; and now God is infinitely more glorified\nin the forgiveness of sins than He could have been had Adam maintained\nhis original innocency. God is more glorified in the salvation, the\npardon, the justification, the preservation, and final glorification\nof guilty man than He could have been in maintaining an innocent man\nin the enjoyment of creation-blessings. Such is the precious mystery\nof redemption. May our hearts enter, by the power of the Holy Ghost,\ninto the living and profound depths of this wondrous mystery.\n\n\"As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar-wood, and\nthe scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in\nthe blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he\nshall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven\ntimes, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird\nloose into the open field.\" The blood being shed, the priest can enter\ndirectly and fully upon his work. Up to this, we read, \"The priest\nshall command;\" but now he acts immediately himself. The death of\nChrist is the basis of His priestly ministration. Having entered with\nHis own blood into the holy place, He acts as our great High-Priest,\napplying to our souls all the precious results of His atoning work,\nand maintaining us in the full and divine integrity of the position\ninto which His sacrifice has introduced us. \"For every high-priest is\nordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity\nthat this Man have somewhat also to offer. For if He were on earth, He\nshould not be a priest.\" (Heb. viii. 3, 4.)\n\nWe could hardly have a more perfect type of the resurrection of Christ\nthan that presented in \"the living bird let loose into the open\nfield.\" It was not let go until after the death of its companion; for\nthe two birds typify one Christ in two stages of His blessed work,\nnamely, death and resurrection. Ten thousand birds let loose would not\nhave availed for the leper. It was that living bird, mounting upward\ninto the open heavens, bearing upon his wing the significant token of\naccomplished atonement--it was that which told out the great fact that\nthe work was done, the ground cleared, the foundation laid. Thus is\nit in reference to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. His resurrection\ndeclares the glorious triumph of redemption. \"He rose again the third\nday according to the Scriptures.\" \" He was raised again for our\njustification.\" It is this that sets the burdened heart free and\nliberates the struggling conscience. The Scriptures assure me that\nJesus was nailed to the cross under the weight of my sins; but the\nsame Scriptures assure me that He rose from the grave without one of\nthose sins upon Him. Nor is this all. The same Scriptures assure me\nthat all who put their trust in Jesus are as free from all charge of\nguilt as He is; that there is no more wrath or condemnation for them\nthan for Him; that they are in Him, one with Him, accepted in Him,\nco-quickened, co-raised, co-seated, with Him. Such is the peace-giving\ntestimony of the Scriptures of truth--such the record of God who\ncannot lie. (See Rom. vi. 6-11; viii. 1-4; 2 Cor. v. 21; Eph. ii. 5,\n6; Col. ii. 10-15; 1 John iv. 17.)\n\nBut we have another most important truth set before us in verse 6 of\nour chapter. We not only see our full deliverance from guilt and\ncondemnation, as beautifully exhibited in the living bird let loose,\nbut we see also our entire deliverance from all the attractions of\nearth and all the influences of nature. \"The scarlet\" would be the apt\nexpression of the former, while \"the cedar-wood and hyssop\" would set\nforth the latter. The cross is the end of all this world's glory. God\npresents it as such, and the believer recognizes it as such. \"God\nforbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.\"\n(Gal. vi. 14.)\n\nThen, as to the \"cedar-wood and hyssop,\" they present to us, as it\nwere, the two extremes of nature's wide range. Solomon \"spake of\ntrees, from the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop\nthat springeth out of the wall.\" (1 Kings iv. 33.) From the lofty\ncedar which crowns the sides of Lebanon, down to the lowly hyssop--the\nwide extremes and all that lies between--nature in all its departments\nis brought under the power of the cross; so that the believer sees in\nthe death of Christ the end of all his guilt, the end of all earth's\nglory, and the end of the whole system of nature--the entire old\ncreation. And with what is he to be occupied? With Him who is the\nAntitype of that living bird, with blood-stained feathers, ascending\ninto the open heavens. Precious, glorious, soul-satisfying object! A\nrisen, ascended, triumphant, glorified Christ, who has passed into the\nheavens, bearing in His sacred Person the marks of an accomplished\natonement. It is with Him we have to do: we are shut up to Him. He is\nGod's exclusive object; He is the centre of heaven's joy, the theme of\nangels' song. We want none of earth's glory, none of nature's\nattractions. We can behold them all, together with our sin and guilt,\nforever set aside by the death of Christ. We can well afford to\ndispense with earth and nature, inasmuch as we have gotten, instead\nthereof, the \"unsearchable riches of Christ.\"\n\n\"And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the\nleprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the\nbird loose into the open field.\" The more deeply we ponder over the\ncontents of chapter xiii, the more clearly we shall see how utterly\nimpossible it was for the leper to do aught towards his own cleansing.\nAll he could do was to \"put a covering upon his upper lip;\" and all he\ncould say was, \"Unclean, unclean.\" It belonged to God, and to Him\nalone, to devise and accomplish a work whereby the leprosy could be\nperfectly cleansed; and further, it belonged to God, and to Him alone,\nto pronounce the leper \"clean.\" Hence it is written, \"The priest shall\nsprinkle,\" and \"he shall pronounce him clean.\" It is not said, The\nleper shall sprinkle and pronounce or imagine himself clean. This\nwould never do. God was the Judge--God was the Healer--God was the\nCleanser. He alone knew what leprosy was, how it could be put away,\nand when to pronounce the leper clean. The leper might have gone on\nall his days covered with leprosy, and yet be wholly ignorant of what\nwas wrong with him. It was the Word of God--the Scriptures of\ntruth--the divine Record that declared the full truth as to leprosy;\nand nothing short of the self-same authority could pronounce the leper\nclean, and that, moreover, only on the solid and indisputable ground\nof death and resurrection. There is the most precious connection\nbetween the three things in verse 7: the blood is sprinkled, the\nleper pronounced clean, and the living bird let loose. There is not so\nmuch as a single syllable about what the leper was to do, to say, to\nthink, or to feel. It was enough that he was a leper--a fully\nrevealed, a thoroughly judged leper, covered from head to foot. This\nsufficed for him; all the rest pertained to God.\n\nIt is of all importance for the anxious inquirer after peace to enter\ninto the truth unfolded in this branch of our subject. So many are\ntried by the question of _feeling_, _realizing_, and _appropriating_,\ninstead of seeing, as in the leper's case, that the sprinkling of the\nblood was as independent and as divine as the shedding of it. It is\nnot said, The leper shall apply, appropriate, or realize, and then he\nshall be clean. By no means. The plan of deliverance was divine; the\nprovision of the sacrifice was divine; the shedding of the blood was\ndivine; the sprinkling of the blood was divine; the record as to the\nresult was divine: in short, it was all divine.\n\nIt is not that we should undervalue realization, or, to speak more\ncorrectly, communion, through the Holy Ghost, with all the precious\nresults of Christ's work for us. Far from it: we shall see presently\nthe place assigned thereto in the divine economy. But then we are no\nmore saved by realization than the leper was cleansed by it. The\u03bd\u03c5\u03ba\u03c4\u03b1\n\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd gospel, by which we are saved, is that \"Christ died for our\nsins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He\nrose again the third day according to the Scriptures.\" There is\nnothing about realization here. No doubt it is happy to realize. It is\na very happy thing for one who was just on the point of being drowned\nto realize himself in a life-boat; but clearly he is saved by the boat\nand not by his realization. So it is with the sinner that believes on\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. He is saved by death and resurrection. Is it\nbecause he realizes it? No; but because God says it. It is \"_according\nto the Scriptures_.\" Christ died and rose again, and on that ground\nGod pronounces him clean.\n\n \"No condemnation, O my soul!\n _'Tis God that speaks the word._\"\n\nThis gives immense peace to the soul. I have to do with God's plain\nrecord, which nothing can ever shake. That record has reference to\nGod's own work. It is He Himself who has wrought all that was needful\nin order to my being pronounced clean in His sight. My pardon no more\ndepends upon my realization than upon any \"works of righteousness that\nI have done;\" and it no more depends upon my works of righteousness\nthan it does upon my crimes. In a word, it depends exclusively upon\nthe death and resurrection of Christ. How do I know it? God tells me.\nIt is \"according to the Scriptures.\"\n\nThere are perhaps few things which disclose the deep-seated legality\nof our hearts more strikingly than this oft-raised question of\nrealization. We _will_ have in something of self, and thus so sadly\nmar our peace and liberty in Christ. It is mainly because of this\nthat I dwell at such length upon the beautiful ordinance of the\ncleansing of the leper, and especially on the truth unfolded in\nchapter xiv. 7. It was the priest that sprinkled the blood, and it was\nthe priest that pronounced the leper clean. Thus it is in the case of\nthe sinner. The moment he is on his true ground, the blood of Christ\nand the Word of God apply themselves without any further question or\ndifficulty whatever; but the moment this harassing question of\nrealization is raised, the peace is disturbed, the heart depressed,\nand the mind bewildered. The more thoroughly I get done with self, and\nbecome occupied with Christ, as presented in \"the Scriptures,\" the\nmore settled my peace will be. If the leper had looked at himself when\nthe priest pronounced him clean, would he have found any basis for the\ndeclaration? Surely not. The sprinkled blood was the basis of the\ndivine record, and not any thing in or connected with the leper. The\nleper was not asked how he felt or what he thought; he was not\nquestioned as to whether he had a deep sense of the vileness of his\ndisease. He was an acknowledged leper; that was enough. It was for\nsuch an one the blood was shed, and that blood made him clean. How did\nhe know this? was it because he felt it? No; but because the priest,\non God's behalf and by His authority, told him so. The leper was\npronounced clean on the very same ground that the living bird was let\nloose. The same blood which stained the feathers of that living bird\nwas sprinkled upon the leper. This was a perfect settlement of the\nwhole affair, and that, too, in a manner entirely independent of the\nleper, the leper's thoughts, his feelings, and his realization. Such\nis the type. And when we look from the type to the Antitype, we see\nthat our blessed Lord Jesus Christ entered heaven and laid on the\nthrone of God the eternal record of an accomplished work, in virtue of\nwhich the believer enters also. This is a most glorious truth,\ndivinely calculated to dispel from the heart of the anxious inquirer\nevery doubt, every fear, every bewildering thought, and every\nharassing question. A risen Christ is God's exclusive object, and He\nsees every believer in Him. May every awakened soul find abiding\nrepose in this emancipating truth.\n\n\"And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off\nall his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean; and\nafter that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of\nhis tent seven days.\" (Ver. 8.) The leper, being pronounced clean, can\nbegin to do what he could not even have attempted to do before,\nnamely, to cleanse himself, cleanse his habits, shave off all his\nhair; and, having done so, he is privileged to take his place in the\ncamp--the place of ostensible, recognized, public relationship with\nthe God of Israel, whose presence in that camp it was which rendered\nthe expulsion of the leper needful. The blood having been applied in\nits expiating virtue, there is the washing of water, which expresses\nthe action of the Word on the character, the habits, the ways, so as\nto render the person, not only in God's view, but also in the view of\nthe congregation, morally and practically fit for a place in the\npublic assembly.\n\nBut, be it observed, the man, though sprinkled with blood and washed\nwith water, and thus entitled to a position in the public assembly,\nwas not permitted to enter his own tent. He was not permitted to enter\nupon the full enjoyment of those private, personal privileges which\nbelonged to his own peculiar place in the camp. In other words, though\nknowing redemption through the shed and sprinkled blood, and owning\nthe Word as the rule according to which his person and all his habits\nshould be cleansed and regulated, he had yet to be brought, in the\npower of the Spirit, into full, intelligent communion with his own\nspecial place, portion, and privileges in Christ.\n\nI speak according to the doctrine of the type; and I feel it to be of\nimportance to apprehend the truth unfolded therein. It is too often\noverlooked. There are many who own the blood of Christ as the alone\nground of pardon, and the Word of God as that whereby alone their\nhabits, ways, and associations are to be cleansed and ordered, who\nnevertheless are far from entering, by the power of the Holy Ghost,\ninto communion with the preciousness and excellency of that One whose\nblood has put away their sins and whose Word is to cleanse their\npractical habits. They are in the place of ostensible and actual\nrelationship, but not in the power of personal communion. It is\nperfectly true that all believers are in Christ, and, as such,\nentitled to communion with the very highest truths; moreover, they\nhave the Holy Ghost as the power of communion,--all this is divinely\ntrue; but then there is not that entire setting aside of all that\npertains to nature, which is really essential to the power of\ncommunion with Christ in all the aspects of His character and work. In\npoint of fact, this latter will not be fully known to any until \"the\neighth day\"--the day of resurrection-glory, when we shall know even as\nwe are known. Then, indeed, each one for himself, and all together,\nshall enter into the full, unhindered power of communion with Christ,\nin all the precious phases of His Person and features of His character\nunfolded from verse 10 to 20 of our chapter. Such is the hope set\nbefore us; but even now, in proportion as we enter, by faith, through\nthe mighty energy of the indwelling Spirit, into the death of nature\nand all pertaining thereto, we can feed upon and rejoice in Christ as\nthe portion of our souls, in the place of individual communion.\n\n\"But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair\noff his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he\nshall shave off; and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his\nflesh in water, and he shall be clean.\" (Ver. 9.) Now, it is clear\nthat the leper was just as clean, in God's judgment, on the first day,\nwhen the blood was sprinkled upon him in its sevenfold or perfect\nefficacy, as he was on the seventh day. Wherein, then, was the\ndifference? Not in his actual standing and condition, but in his\npersonal intelligence and communion. On the seventh day he was called\nto enter into the full and complete abolition of all that pertained to\nnature. He was called to apprehend that not merely was nature's\nleprosy to be put away, but nature's ornaments--yea, all that was\nnatural--all that belonged to the old condition.\n\nIt is one thing to know, as a doctrine, that God sees my nature to be\ndead, and it is quite another thing for me to \"reckon\" myself as\ndead--to put off, practically, the old man and his deeds--to mortify\nmy members which are on the earth. This, probably, is what many godly\npersons mean when they speak of progressive sanctification. They mean\na right thing, though they do not put it exactly as the Scriptures do.\nThe leper was pronounced clean the moment the blood was sprinkled upon\nhim, and yet he had to cleanse himself. How was this? In the former\ncase, he was clean in the judgment of God; in the latter, he was to be\nclean practically, in his own personal intelligence, and in his\nmanifested character. Thus it is with the believer. He is, as one with\nChrist, \"washed, sanctified, and justified\"--\"accepted\"--\"complete.\"\n(1 Cor. vi. 11; Eph. i. 6; Col. ii. 10.) Such is his unalterable\nstanding and condition before God. He is as perfectly sanctified as he\nis justified, for Christ is the measure of both the one and the other,\naccording to God's judgment and view of the case. But then the\nbeliever's apprehension of all this in his own soul, and his\nexhibition thereof in his habits and ways, open up quite another line\nof things. Hence it is we read, \"Having therefore these promises,\ndearly beloved, let us _cleanse ourselves_ from all filthiness of the\nflesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.\" (2 Cor.\nvii. 1.) It is because Christ has cleansed us by His precious blood\nthat therefore we are called to \"cleanse ourselves\" by the application\nof the Word, through the Spirit. \"This is He that came by water and\nblood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it\nis the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For\nthere are three that bear record, the Spirit, and the water, and the\nblood; and these three agree in one.\" (1 John v. 6, 8.) Here we have\natonement by the blood, cleansing by the Word, and power by the\nSpirit--all founded upon the death of Christ, and all vividly\nforeshadowed in the ordinances connected with the cleansing of the\nleper.\n\n\"And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and\none ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals\nof fine flour for a meat-offering, mingled with oil, and one log of\noil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that\nis to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of\nthe tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall take one he\nlamb, and offer him for a trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and\nwave them for a wave-offering before the Lord.\" (Ver. 10-12.) The\nentire range of offerings is here introduced; but it is the\ntrespass-offering which is first killed, inasmuch as the leper is\nviewed as an actual trespasser. This is true in every case. As those\nwho have trespassed against God, we need Christ as the One who atoned,\non the cross, for those trespasses. \"Himself bare our _sins_ in His\nown body on the tree.\" The first view which the sinner gets of Christ\nis as the Antitype of the trespass-offering.\n\n\"And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass-offering,\nand the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that\nis to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the\ngreat toe of his right foot.\" \"The ear,\"--that guilty member which had\nso frequently proved a channel of communication for vanity, folly, and\neven uncleanness--that ear must be cleansed by the blood of the\ntrespass-offering. Thus all the guilt which I have ever contracted by\nthat member is forgiven according to God's estimate of the blood of\nChrist. \"_The right hand_,\" which had so frequently been stretched\nforth for the execution of deeds of vanity, folly, and even\nuncleanness, must be cleansed by the blood of the trespass-offering.\nThus all the guilt which I have ever contracted by that member is\nforgiven according to God's estimate of the blood of Christ. \"_The\nfoot_,\" which had so often run in the way of vanity, folly, and even\nuncleanness, must now be cleansed by the blood of the\ntrespass-offering, so that all the guilt which I have ever contracted\nby that member is forgiven according to God's estimate of the blood of\nChrist. Yes; _all_, _all_, _all_ is forgiven--all is canceled--all\nforgotten--all sunk as lead in the mighty waters of eternal oblivion.\nWho shall bring it up again? Shall angel, man, or devil be able to\nplunge into those unfathomed and unfathomable waters, to bring up from\nthence those trespasses of \"foot,\" \"hand,\" or \"ear,\" which redeeming\nlove has cast thereinto? Oh, no; blessed be God, they are gone, and\ngone forever! I am better off, by far, than if Adam had never sinned.\nPrecious truth! To be washed in the blood is better far than to be\nclothed in innocency.\n\nBut God could not rest satisfied with the mere blotting out of\ntrespasses by the atoning blood of Jesus. This in itself is a great\nthing, but there is something greater still.\n\n\"And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into\nthe palm of his own left hand: and the priest shall dip his right\nfinger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the\noil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And of the rest of\nthe oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the\nright ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his\nright hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood\nof the trespass-offering; and the remnant of the oil that is in the\npriest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be\ncleansed; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the\nLord.\" (Ver. 15-18.) Thus, not only are our members cleansed by the\nblood of Christ, but also consecrated to God in the power of the\nSpirit. God's work is not only negative, but positive. The ear is no\nlonger to be the vehicle for communicating defilement, but to be\n\"swift to hear\" the voice of the Good Shepherd; the hand is no longer\nto be used as the instrument of unrighteousness, but to be stretched\nforth in acts of righteousness, grace, and true holiness; the foot is\nno longer to tread in folly's paths, but to run in the way of God's\nholy commandments: and, finally, the whole man is to be dedicated to\nGod in the energy of the Holy Ghost.\n\nIt is deeply interesting to see that \"the oil\" was put \"upon the blood\nof the trespass-offering.\" The blood of Christ is the divine basis of\nthe operations of the Holy Ghost. The blood and the oil go together.\nAs sinners, we could know nothing of the latter save on the ground of\nthe former. The oil could not have been put upon the leper until the\nblood of the trespass-offering had first been applied. \"In whom also,\nafter that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of\npromise.\" The divine accuracy of the type evokes the admiration of the\nrenewed mind. The more closely we scrutinize it--the more of the light\nof Scripture we concentrate upon it, the more its beauty, force, and\nprecision are perceived and enjoyed. All, as might justly be expected,\nis in the most lovely harmony with the entire analogy of the Word of\nGod. There is no need for any effort of the mind. Take Christ as the\nkey to unlock the rich treasury of the types; explore the precious\ncontents by the light of Inspiration's heavenly lamp; let the Holy\nGhost be your Interpreter; and you cannot fail to be edified,\nenlightened, and blessed.\n\n\"And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make an atonement\nfor him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness.\" Here we have a\ntype of Christ, not only as the Bearer of our trespasses, but also as\nthe One who made an end of sin, root and branch; the One who destroyed\nthe entire system of sin--\"the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of\nthe world\"--\"the propitiation for the whole world.\" As the\nTrespass-offering, Christ put away all my trespasses; as the\nSin-offering, He met the great root from whence those trespasses\nemanated. He met all; but it is as the Trespass-offering I first know\nHim, because it is as such I first need Him. It is the \"conscience of\nsins\" that first troubles me. This is divinely met by my precious\nTrespass-offering. Then, as I get on, I find that all these sins had a\nroot, a parent stem, and that root or stem I find within me. This,\nlikewise, is divinely met by my precious Sin-offering. The order, as\npresented in the leper's case, is perfect. It is precisely the order\nwhich we can trace in the actual experience of every soul. The\ntrespass-offering comes first, and then the sin-offering.\n\n\"And afterward he shall kill the burnt-offering.\" This offering\npresents the highest possible aspect of the death of Christ. It is\nChrist offering Himself without spot to God, without special reference\nto either trespasses or sin: it is Christ, in voluntary devotedness,\nwalking to the cross, and there offering Himself as a sweet savor to\nGod.\n\n\"And the priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the meat-offering\nupon the altar; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he\nshall be clean.\" (Ver. 20.) The meat-offering typifies \"the Man Christ\nJesus\" in His perfect human life. It is intimately associated, in the\ncase of the cleansed leper, with the burnt-offering; and so it is in\nthe experience of every saved sinner. It is when we know our\n_trespasses_ are forgiven, and the root or principle of _sin_ judged,\nthat we can, according to our measure, by the power of the Spirit,\nenjoy communion with God about that blessed One who lived a perfect\nhuman life down here and then offered Himself without spot to God on\nthe cross. Thus the four classes of offerings are brought before us in\ntheir divine order in the cleansing of the leper, namely, the\ntrespass-offering, the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, and the\nmeat-offering, each exhibiting its own specific aspect of our blessed\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nHere closes the record of the Lord's dealings with the leprous man;\nand, oh, what a marvelous record it is! what an unfolding of the\nexceeding hatefulness of sin, the grace and holiness of God, the\npreciousness of Christ's Person, and the efficacy of His work! Nothing\ncan be more interesting than to mark the footprints of divine grace\nforth from the hallowed precincts of the sanctuary to the defiled\nplace where the leper stood, with bare head, covered lip, and rent\ngarments. God visited the leper where he was, but He did not leave\nhim there. He went forth prepared to accomplish a work in virtue of\nwhich He could bring the leper into a higher place and higher\ncommunion than ever he had known before. On the ground of this work,\nthe leper was conducted from his place of defilement and loneliness to\nthe very door of the tabernacle of the congregation, the priestly\nplace, to enjoy priestly privileges. (Comp. Exod. xxix. 20, 21, 32.)\nHow could he ever have climbed to such an elevation? Impossible! For\naught he could do, he might have languished and died in his leprosy\nhad not the sovereign grace of the God of Israel stooped to lift him\nfrom the dunghill, to set him among the princes of his people. If ever\nthere was a case in which the question of human effort, human merit,\nand human righteousness could be fully tried and perfectly settled,\nthe leper is unquestionably that case. Indeed it were a sad loss of\ntime to discuss such a question in the presence of such a case. It\nmust be obvious to the most cursory reader that naught but free grace\nreigning through righteousness could meet the leper's condition and\nthe leper's need. And how gloriously and triumphantly did that grace\nact! It traveled down into the deepest depths, that it might raise the\nleper to the loftiest heights. See what the leper lost, and see what\nhe gained! He lost all that pertained to nature, and he gained the\nblood of atonement and the grace of the Spirit. I mean typically.\nTruly he was a gainer, to an incalculable amount. He was infinitely\nbetter off than if he had never been thrust forth from the camp. Such\nis the grace of God! such the power and value, the virtue and\nefficacy, of the blood of Jesus!\n\nHow forcibly does all this remind us of the prodigal in Luke xv! In\nhim, too, leprosy had wrought and risen to a head. He had been afar\noff, in the defiled place, where his own sins and the intense\nselfishness of the far country had created a solitude around him; but,\nblessed forever be a father's deep and tender love, we know how it\nended. The prodigal found a higher place and tasted higher communion\nthan ever he had known before; \"the fatted calf\" had never been slain\nfor him before; \"the best robe\" had never been on him before. And how\nwas this? was it a question of the prodigal's merit? Oh, no; it was\nsimply a question of the father's love.\n\nDear reader, let me ask, can you ponder over the record of God's\ndealings with the leper in Leviticus xiv, or the father's dealings\nwith the prodigal in Luke xv, and not have an enlarged sense of the\nlove that dwells in the bosom of God, that flows through the Person\nand work of Christ, that is recorded in the Scriptures of truth, and\nbrought home to the heart by the Holy Ghost? Lord grant us a deeper\nand more abiding fellowship with Himself!\n\nFrom verse 21 to 32 we have \"the law of him in whom is the plague of\nleprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his\ncleansing.\" This refers to the sacrifices of \"the eighth day,\" and not\nto the \"two birds alive and clean.\" These latter could not be\ndispensed with in any case, because they set forth the death and\nresurrection of Christ as the alone ground on which God can receive a\nsinner back to Himself. On the other hand, the sacrifices of \"the\neighth day\" being connected with the soul's communion, must, in some\ndegree, be affected by the measure of the soul's apprehension; but\nwhatever that measure may be, the grace of God can meet it with those\npeculiarly touching words, \"_such as he is able to get_.\" And not only\nso, but the \"two turtle-doves\" conferred the same privileges on the\n\"poor\" as the two lambs conferred upon the rich, inasmuch as both the\none and the other pointed to \"the precious blood of Christ,\" which is\nof infinite, changeless, and eternal efficacy in the judgment of God.\nAll stand before God on the ground of death and resurrection. All are\nbrought into the same place of nearness, but all do not enjoy the same\nmeasure of communion--all have not the same measure of apprehension of\nthe preciousness of Christ in all the aspects of His work. They might,\nif they would; but they allow themselves to be hindered in various\nways. Earth and nature, with their respective influences, act\nprejudicially: the Spirit is grieved, and Christ is not enjoyed as He\nmight be. It is utterly vain to expect that if we are living in the\nregion of nature, we can be feeding upon Christ. No; there must be\nself-emptiness, self-denial, self-judgment, if we would habitually\nfeed upon Christ. It is not a question of salvation; it is not a\nquestion of the leper introduced into the camp--the place of\nrecognized relationship. By no means. It is only a question of the\nsoul's communion, of its enjoyment of Christ. As to this, the largest\nmeasure lies open to us. We may have communion with the very highest\ntruths; but if our measure be small, the unupbraiding grace of our\nFather's heart breathes in the sweet words, \"_such as he is able to\nget_.\" The title of all is the same, however our capacity may vary;\nand, blessed be God, when we get into His presence, all the desires of\nthe new nature, in their utmost intensity, are satisfied; all the\npowers of the new nature, in their fullest range, are occupied. May we\nprove these things in our soul's happy experience day by day.\n\nWe shall close this section with a brief reference to the subject of\nleprosy in a house.\n\nIII. The reader will observe that a case of leprosy in a person, or in\na garment, might occur in the wilderness; but in the matter of a\nhouse, it was of necessity confined to the land of Canaan.\n\n\"When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a\npossession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of\nyour possession, ... then the priest shall command that they empty the\nhouse, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that\nis in the house be not made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go\nin to see the house: and he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if\nthe plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish\nor reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; then the priest\nshall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the\nhouse seven days.\"\n\nLooking at the house as the type of an assembly, we have some weighty\nprinciples presented to us as to the divine method of dealing with\nmoral evil, or suspicion of evil, in a congregation. We observe the\nsame holy calmness and perfect patience with respect to the house as\nwe have already seen in reference to the person or the garment. There\nwas no haste and no indifference, either as regards the house, the\ngarment, or the individual. The man who had an interest in the house\nwas not to treat with indifference any suspicious symptoms appearing\nin the wall thereof; neither was he to pronounce judgment himself upon\nsuch symptoms: it belonged to the priest to investigate and to judge.\nThe moment that aught of a questionable nature made its appearance,\nthe priest assumed a judicial attitude with respect to the house. The\nhouse was under judgment, though not condemned. The perfect period was\nto be allowed to run its course ere any decision could be arrived at.\nThe symptoms might prove to be merely superficial, in which case there\nwould be no demand for any action whatever.\n\n\"And the priest shall _come again the seventh day_, and shall _look_:\nand, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house, then\nthe priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the\nplague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the\ncity.\" The whole house was not to be condemned: the removal of the\nleprous stones was first to be tried.\n\n\"And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that\nhe hath taken away the stones, and after that he hath scraped the\nhouse, and after that it is plastered; then the priest shall come and\nlook, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a\nfretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean. And he shall break down\nthe house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the\nmortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city\ninto an unclean place.\" The case was hopeless, the evil irremediable,\nthe whole building was annihilated.\n\n\"Moreover, he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut\nup shall be unclean until the even. And he that lieth in the house\nshall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his\nclothes.\" This is a solemn truth. _Contact defiles!_ Let us remember\nthis. It was a principle largely inculcated under the Levitical\neconomy, and surely it is not less applicable now.\n\n\"And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the\nplague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plastered;\nthen the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is\nhealed.\" The removal of the defiled stones, etc., had arrested the\nprogress of the evil, and rendered all further judgment needless. The\nhouse was no longer to be viewed as in a judicial place; but being\ncleansed by the application of the blood, it was again fit for\noccupation.\n\nAnd now as to the moral of all this. It is at once interesting,\nsolemn, and practical. Look, for example, at the church at Corinth. It\nwas a spiritual house, composed of spiritual stones; but, alas! the\neagle eye of the apostle discerned upon its walls certain symptoms of\na most suspicious nature. Was he indifferent? Surely not. He had\nimbibed far too much of the spirit of the Master of the house to\nadmit, for one moment, of any such thing. But he was no more hasty\nthan indifferent. He commanded the leprous stone to be removed, and\ngave the house a thorough scraping. Having acted thus faithfully, he\npatiently awaited the result. And what was that result? All that the\nheart could desire. \"Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are\ncast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming\nonly, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when\nhe told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind\ntoward me; so that I rejoiced the more.... _In all things ye have\napproved yourselves to be clear in this matter._\" (Comp. 1 Cor. v.\nwith 2 Cor. vii. 11.) This is a lovely instance. The zealous care of\nthe apostle was amply rewarded; the plague was stayed, and the\nassembly delivered from the defiling influence of unjudged moral evil.\n\nTake another solemn example.--\"And to the angel of the church in\nPergamos write: 'These things saith He that hath the sharp sword with\ntwo edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where\nSatan's seat is; and thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My\nfaith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who\nwas slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things\nagainst thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of\nBalaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children\nof Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit\nfornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the\nNicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto\nthee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.\"\n(Rev. ii. 12-16.) Here the divine Priest stands in a judicial attitude\nwith respect to His house at Pergamos. He could not be indifferent to\nsymptoms so alarming, but He patiently and graciously gives time to\nrepent. If reproof, warning, and discipline prove unavailing, judgment\nmust take its course.\n\nThese things are full of practical teaching as to the doctrine of the\nassembly. The seven churches of Asia afford various striking\nillustrations of the house under priestly judgment. We should ponder\nthem deeply and prayerfully; they are of immense value. We should\nnever sit down at ease so long as aught of a suspicious nature is\nmaking its appearance in the assembly. We may be tempted to say, \"It\nis none of my business;\" but it is the business of every one who loves\nthe Master of the house to have a jealous, godly care for the purity\nof that house; and if we shrink from the due exercise of this care,\nit will not be for our honor or profit in the day of the Lord.\n\nI shall not pursue this subject any further in these pages; and shall\nmerely remark, in closing this section, that I do not doubt in the\nleast that this whole subject of leprosy has a great dispensational\nbearing, not only upon the house of Israel, but also upon the\nprofessing church.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nThis chapter treats of a variety of ceremonial uncleannesses of a much\nless serious nature than leprosy. This latter would seem to be\npresented as the expression of the deep-seated energy of nature's\nevil; whereas chapter xv. details a number of things which are merely\nunavoidable infirmities, but which, as being in any measure the\noutflow of nature, were defiling, and needed the provisions of divine\ngrace. The divine presence in the assembly demanded a high order of\nholiness and moral purity. Every movement of nature had to be\ncounteracted. Even things which, so far as man was concerned, might\nseem to be unavoidable weaknesses, had a defiling influence, and\nrequired cleansing, because Jehovah was in the camp. Nothing\noffensive, nothing unsightly, nothing in any way uncomely, should be\nsuffered within the pure, unsullied, and sacred precincts of the\npresence of the God of Israel. The uncircumcised nations around would\nhave understood nothing of such holy ordinances; but Jehovah would\nhave Israel holy, because He was Israel's God. If they were to be\nprivileged and distinguished by having the presence of a holy God,\nthey would need to be a holy people.\n\nNothing can be more calculated to elicit the soul's admiration than\nthe jealous care of Jehovah over all the habits and practices of His\npeople. At home and abroad, asleep and awake, by day and by night, He\nguarded them. He attended to their food, He attended to their\nclothing, He attended to their most minute and private concerns. If\nsome trifling spot appeared upon the person, it had to be instantly\nand carefully looked into. In a word, nothing was overlooked which\ncould in any wise affect the well-being or purity of those with whom\nJehovah had associated Himself, and in whose midst He dwelt. He took\nan interest in their most trivial affairs. He carefully attended to\nevery thing connected with them, whether publicly, socially, or\nprivately.\n\nThis, to an uncircumcised person, would have proved an intolerable\nburden. For such an one to have a God of infinite holiness about his\npath by day and about his bed by night, would have involved an amount\nof restraint beyond all power of endurance; but to a true lover of\nholiness--a lover of God, nothing could be more delightful. Such an\none rejoices in the sweet assurance that God is always near, and he\ndelights in the holiness which is at once demanded and secured by the\npresence of God.\n\nReader, say, is it thus with you? Do you love the divine presence and\nthe holiness which that presence demands? Are you indulging in any\nthing incompatible with the holiness of God's presence? Are your\nhabits of thought, feeling, and action such as comport with the purity\nand elevation of the sanctuary? Remember, when you read this fifteenth\nchapter of Leviticus, that it was written for your learning. You are\nto read it in the Spirit, for to you it has a spiritual application.\nTo read it in any other way is to wrest it to your own destruction,\nor, to use a ceremonial phrase, \"to seethe a kid in its mother's\nmilk.\"\n\nDo you ask, What am I to learn from such a section of Scripture? what\nis its application to me? In the first place, let me ask, do you not\nadmit that it was written for your learning? This, I imagine, you will\nnot question, seeing the inspired apostle so expressly declares that\n\"_whatsoever_ things were written aforetime were written for our\nlearning.\" (Rom. xv. 4.) Many seem to forget this important statement,\nat least in so far as the book of Leviticus is concerned. They cannot\nconceive it possible that they are to learn aught from the rites and\nceremonies of a by-gone age, and particularly from such rites and\nceremonies as the fifteenth of Leviticus records; but when we remember\nthat God the Holy Ghost has written this very chapter--that every\nparagraph, every verse, every line of it \"is given by inspiration of\nGod, and is profitable,\" it should lead us to inquire what it means.\nSurely, what God has written His child should read. No doubt there is\nneed of spiritual power to know _how_, and spiritual wisdom to know\n_when_, to read such a chapter; but the same holds good with respect\nto any chapter. One thing is certain, if we were sufficiently\nspiritual, sufficiently heavenly, sufficiently abstracted from nature\nand elevated above earth, we should deduce naught but purely spiritual\nprinciples and ideas from this and kindred chapters. If an angel from\nheaven were to read such sections, how should he regard them? Only in\na spiritual and heavenly light, only as the depositories of the purest\nand highest morality. And why should not we do the same? I believe we\nare not aware of what positive contempt we pour upon the sacred Volume\nby suffering any portion of it to be so grossly neglected as the book\nof Leviticus has been. If this book ought not to be read, surely it\nought not to have been written. If it be not \"profitable,\" surely it\nought not to have had a place assigned it in the canon of divine\ninspiration; but inasmuch as it hath pleased \"the only wise God\" to\nwrite this book, it surely ought to please His children to read it.\n\nNo doubt, spiritual wisdom, holy discernment, and that refined moral\nsense which only communion with God can impart--all these things would\nbe needed in order to form a judgment as to when such scripture ought\nto be read. We should feel strongly disposed to question the sound\njudgment and refined taste of a man who could stand up and read the\nfifteenth of Leviticus in the midst of an ordinary congregation. But\nwhy? Is it because it is not \"divinely inspired,\" and as such,\n\"profitable\"? By no means; but because the generality of persons are\nnot sufficiently spiritual to enter into its pure and holy lessons.\n\nWhat, then, are we to learn from the chapter before us? In the first\nplace, we learn to watch, with holy jealousy, every thing that\nemanates from nature. Every movement of, and every emanation from\nnature is defiling. Fallen human nature is an impure fountain, and all\nits streams are polluting. It cannot send forth aught that is pure,\nholy, or good. This is a lesson frequently inculcated in the book of\nLeviticus, and it is impressively taught in this chapter.\n\nBut blessed be the grace that has made such ample provision for\nnature's defilement! This provision is presented under two distinct\nforms throughout the entire of the book of God, and throughout this\nsection of it in particular, namely, \"water and blood.\" Both these are\nfounded upon the death of Christ. The blood that expiates and the\nwater that cleanses flowed from the pierced side of a crucified\nChrist. (Comp. John xix. 34 with 1 John v. 6.) \"The blood of Jesus\nChrist His Son cleanseth us from all sin.\" (1 John i. 7.) And the Word\nof God cleanseth our practical habits and ways. (Ps. cxix. 9; Eph. v.\n26.) Thus we are maintained in fitness for communion and worship,\nthough passing through a scene where all is defiling, and carrying\nwith us a nature every movement of which leaves a soil behind.\n\nIt has been already remarked that our chapter treats of a class of\nceremonial defilements less serious than leprosy. This will account\nfor the fact that atonement is here foreshadowed, not by a bullock or\na lamb, but by the lowest order of sacrifice, namely, \"two\nturtle-doves.\" But on the other hand, the cleansing virtue of the Word\nis continually introduced in the ceremonial actions of \"washing,\"\n\"bathing,\" and \"rinsing.\" \"Wherewithal shall a young man _cleanse_ his\nway? By taking heed thereto according to Thy _Word_.\" \"Husbands, love\nyour wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for\nit; that He might _sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water\nby the Word_.\" Water held a most important place in the Levitical\nsystem of purification, and as a type of the Word, nothing can be more\ninteresting or instructive.\n\nThus we can gather up the most valuable points from this fifteenth\nchapter of Leviticus. We learn, in a very striking manner, the intense\nholiness of the divine presence. Not a soil, not a stain, not a speck,\ncan be tolerated for a moment in that thrice-hallowed region. \"Thus\nshall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, that\nthey die not in their uncleanness, when they defile My tabernacle that\nis among them.\" (Ver. 31.)\n\nAgain, we learn that human nature is the ever-flowing fountain of\nuncleanness. It is hopelessly defiled; and not only defiled, but\ndefiling. Awake or asleep, sitting, standing, or lying, nature is\ndefiled and defiling: its very touch conveys pollution. This is a\ndeeply humbling lesson for proud humanity; but thus it is. The book of\nLeviticus holds up a faithful mirror to nature: it leaves \"flesh\"\nnothing to glory in. Men may boast of their refinement, their moral\nsense, their dignity: let them study the third book of Moses, and\nthere they will see what it is all really worth in God's estimation.\n\nFinally, we learn afresh the expiatory value of the blood of Christ,\nand the cleansing, purifying, sanctifying virtues of the precious Word\nof God. When we think of the unsullied purity of the sanctuary, and\nthen reflect upon nature's irremediable defilement, and ask the\nquestion, However can _we_ enter and dwell _there_? the answer is\nfound in \"the blood and water\" which flowed from the side of a\ncrucified Christ--a Christ who gave up His life unto death for us,\nthat we might live by Him. \"There are three that bear record in earth,\nthe Spirit and the water and the blood; and,\" blessed be God, \"these\nthree agree in one.\" The Spirit does not convey to our ears a message\ndiverse from that which we find in the Word, and both the Word and the\nSpirit declare to us the preciousness and efficacy of the blood.\n\nCan we not therefore say that the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus was\n\"written for our learning\"? Has it not its own distinct place in the\ndivine canon? Assuredly. There would be a blank were it omitted. We\nlearn in it what we could not learn in the same way any where else.\nTrue, all Scripture teaches us the holiness of God, the vileness of\nnature, the efficacy of the blood, the value of the Word; but the\nchapter upon which we have been pondering, presents these great truths\nto our notice, and presses them upon our hearts, in a manner quite\npeculiar to itself.\n\nMay _every section_ of our Father's Volume be precious to our hearts.\nMay _every one_ of His testimonies be sweeter to us than honey and the\nhoneycomb, and may \"_every one_ of His righteous judgments\" have its\ndue place in our souls.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\nThis chapter unfolds some of the weightiest principles of truth which\ncan possibly engage the renewed mind. It presents the doctrine of\natonement with uncommon fullness and power. In short, we must rank the\nsixteenth chapter of Leviticus amongst the most precious and important\nsections of inspiration, if indeed it be allowable to make comparisons\nwhere all is divine.\n\nLooking at this chapter historically, it furnishes a record of the\ntransactions of the great day of atonement in Israel, whereby\nJehovah's relationship with the assembly was established and\nmaintained, and all the sins, failures, and infirmities of the people\nfully atoned for, so that the Lord God might dwell among them. The\nblood which was shed upon this solemn day formed the basis of\nJehovah's throne in the midst of the congregation. In virtue of it, a\nholy God could take up His abode in the midst of the people,\nnotwithstanding all their uncleanness. \"The tenth day of the seventh\nmonth\" was a unique day in Israel: there was no other day in the year\nlike it. The sacrifices of this one day formed the ground of God's\ndealing in grace, mercy, patience, and forbearance.\n\nFurthermore, we learn from this portion of inspired history, \"that the\nway into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest.\" God was hidden\nbehind a vail, and man was at a distance. \"And the Lord spake unto\nMoses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered\nbefore the Lord, and died; and the Lord said unto Moses, 'Speak unto\nAaron thy brother, that he come not at all times unto the holy place\nwithin the vail before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark, that he\ndie not; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.'\"\n\nThe way was not open for man to approach at all times into the divine\npresence, nor was there any provision, in the entire range of the\nMosaic ritual, for his abiding there continually. God was shut in from\nman, and man was shut out from God; nor could \"the blood of bulls and\ngoats\" open a permanent meeting-place; \"a sacrifice of nobler name and\nricher blood\" was needed to accomplish this. \"For the law having a\nshadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,\ncan never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year\ncontinually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not\nhave ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged\nshould have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices\nthere is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not\npossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.\"\n(Heb. x. 1-4.) Neither the Levitical priesthood nor the Levitical\nsacrifices could yield perfection. Insufficiency was stamped on the\nlatter, infirmity on the former, imperfection on both. An imperfect\nman could not be a perfect priest; nor could an imperfect sacrifice\ngive a perfect conscience. Aaron was not competent or entitled to take\nhis seat within the vail, nor could the sacrifices which he offered\nrend that vail.\n\nThus much as to our chapter historically: let us now look at it\ntypically.\n\n\"Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a\n_sin_-offering, and a ram for a _burnt_-offering.\" (Ver. 3.) Here we\nhave the two grand aspects of Christ's atoning work--as that which\nperfectly maintains the divine glory, and perfectly meets man's\ndeepest need. There is no mention, throughout all the services of this\nunique and solemn day, of a _meat_-offering or a _peace_-offering. The\nperfect human life of our blessed Lord is not foreshadowed here, nor\nis the communion of the soul with God, consequent upon His\naccomplished work, unfolded. In a word, the one grand subject is\n\"atonement,\" and that in a double way, namely, first, as meeting all\nthe claims of God--the claims of His nature, the claims of His\ncharacter, the claims of His throne; and secondly, as perfectly\nmeeting all man's guilt and all his necessities. We must bear these\ntwo points in mind if we would have a clear understanding of the truth\npresented in this chapter, or of the doctrine of the great day of\natonement. \"Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place,\" with\natonement, as securing the glory of God in every possible way, whether\nas respects His counsels of redeeming love toward the Church, toward\nIsrael, and toward the whole creation, or in reference to all the\nclaims of His moral administration; and with atonement as fully\nmeeting man's guilty and needy condition. These two aspects of the\natonement will continually present themselves to our view as we ponder\nthe precious contents of our chapter. Their importance cannot possibly\nbe over-estimated.\n\n\"He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen\nbreeches upon his flesh, and he shall be girded with a linen girdle,\nand with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments;\ntherefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.\" (Ver.\n4.) Aaron's person, washed in pure water, and robed in the white linen\ngarments, furnishes a lovely and impressive type of Christ entering\nupon the work of atonement. He is seen to be _personally_ and\n_characteristically_ pure and spotless. \"For their sakes I sanctify\nMyself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.\" (John\nxvii. 19.) It is peculiarly precious to be called, as it were, to gaze\nupon the Person of our divine Priest, in all His essential holiness.\nThe Holy Ghost delights in every thing that unfolds Christ to the\nview of His people; and wherever we behold Him, we see him to be the\nsame spotless, perfect, glorious, precious, peerless Jesus, \"the\nfairest among ten thousand, yea, altogether lovely.\" He did not need\nto _do_ or to _wear_ any thing in order to be pure and spotless; He\nneeded no pure water, no fine linen; He was, intrinsically and\npractically, \"the holy One of God.\" What Aaron _did_, and what he\n_wore_--the washing and the robing, are but the faint shadows of what\nChrist _is_. The law had only a \"shadow,\" and \"not the very image of\ngood things to come.\" Blessed be God, we have not merely the shadow,\nbut the eternal and divine reality--Christ Himself.\n\n\"And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two\nkids of the goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a\nburnt-offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin-offering,\nwhich is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his\nhouse.\" (Ver. 5, 6.) Aaron and his house represent the Church, not\nindeed as the \"one body,\" but as a priestly house. It is not the\nChurch as we find it developed in Ephesians and Colossians, but rather\nas we find it in the first epistle of Peter, in the following\nwell-known passage: \"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a\n_spiritual house_, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual\nsacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.\" (Chap. ii. 5.) So also\nin Hebrews--\"But Christ as a Son over His own house; _whose house are\nwe_, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm\nunto the end.\" (Chap. iii. 6.) We must ever remember that there is no\nrevelation of the mystery of the Church in the Old Testament. Types\nand shadows there are, but no revelation. That wondrous mystery of Jew\nand Gentile forming \"one body,\" \"one new man,\" and united to a\nglorified Christ in heaven, could not, as is obvious, be revealed\nuntil Christ had taken His place above. Of this mystery Paul was\npre-eminently made a steward and a minister, as he tells us in\nEphesians iii. 1-12, a passage which I would commend to the prayerful\nattention of the Christian reader.\n\n\"And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at\nthe door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast\nlots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for\nthe scape-goat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's\nlot fell, and offer him for a sin-offering. But the goat on which the\nlot fell to be the scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the\nLord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a\nscape-goat into the wilderness.\" (Ver. 7-10.) In these two goats, we\nhave the two aspects of atonement already referred to; \"the Lord's\nlot\" fell upon one, and the people's lot fell upon the other. In the\ncase of the former, it was not a question of the persons or the sins\nwhich were to be forgiven, nor of God's counsels of grace toward His\nelect. These things, I need hardly say, are of infinite moment; but\nthey are not involved in the case of \"the goat on which the Lord's lot\nfell.\" This latter typifies the death of Christ as that wherein God\nhas been perfectly glorified with respect to sin in general. This\ngreat truth is fully set forth in the remarkable expression, \"the\nLord's lot.\" God has a peculiar portion in the death of Christ--a\nportion quite distinct--a portion which would hold eternally good even\nthough no sinner were ever to be saved. In order to see the force of\nthis, it is needful to bear in mind how God has been dishonored in\nthis world. His truth has been despised; His authority has been\ncontemned; His majesty has been slighted; His law has been broken; His\nclaims have been disregarded; His name has been blasphemed; His\ncharacter has been traduced.\n\nNow, the death of Christ has made provision for all this. It has\nperfectly glorified God in the very place where all these things have\nbeen done; it has perfectly vindicated the majesty, the truth, the\nholiness, the character of God; it has divinely met all the claims of\nHis throne; it has atoned for _sin_; it has furnished a divine remedy\nfor all the mischief which sin introduced into the universe; it\naffords a ground on which the blessed God can act in grace, mercy, and\nforbearance toward all; it furnishes a warrant for the eternal\nexpulsion and perdition of the prince of this world; it forms the\nimperishable foundation of God's moral government. In virtue of the\ncross, God can act according to His own sovereignty; He can display\nthe matchless glories of His character and the adorable attributes of\nHis nature. He might, in the exercise of inflexible justice, have\nconsigned the human family to the lake of fire, together with the\ndevil and his angels; but in that case, where would be His love, His\ngrace, His mercy, His kindness, His long-suffering, His compassion,\nHis patience, His perfect goodness?\n\nThen on the other hand, had these precious attributes been exercised\nin the absence of atonement, where were the justice, the truth, the\nmajesty, the holiness, the righteousness, the governmental claims,\nyea, the entire moral glory of God? How could \"mercy and truth meet\ntogether\"? or \"righteousness and peace kiss each other\"? how could\n\"truth spring out of the earth\"? or \"righteousness look down from\nheaven\"? Impossible. Naught save the atonement of our Lord Jesus\nChrist could have fully glorified God; but that has glorified Him. It\nhas reflected the full glory of the divine character as it never could\nhave been reflected amid the brightest splendors of an unfallen\ncreation. By means of that atonement, in prospect and retrospect, God\nhas been exercising forbearance toward this world for well-nigh six\nthousand years. In virtue of that atonement, the most wicked, daring,\nand blasphemous of the sons of men \"live, move, and have their being;\"\neat, drink, and sleep. The very morsel which yonder open blaspheming\ninfidel puts into his mouth, he owes to the atonement, which he knows\nnot, but impiously ridicules; the sunbeams and showers which fertilize\nthe fields of the atheist, reach him in virtue of the atonement of\nChrist; yea, the very breath which the infidel and the atheist spend\nin blaspheming God's revelation, or denying His existence, they owe\nto the atonement of Christ. Were it not for that precious atonement,\ninstead of blaspheming upon earth, they would be weltering in hell.\n\nLet not my reader misunderstand me, I speak not here of the\nforgiveness or salvation of persons. This is quite another thing, and\nstands connected, as every true Christian knows, with the confession\nof the name of Jesus and the hearty belief that God raised Him from\nthe dead. (Rom. x.) This is plain enough, and fully understood; but it\nis in no wise involved in that aspect of the atonement which we are at\npresent contemplating, and which is so strikingly foreshadowed by \"the\ngoat on which the Lord's lot fell.\" God's pardoning and accepting a\nsinner is one thing; His bearing with that man, and showering temporal\nblessings upon him, is quite another. Both are in virtue of the cross,\nbut in a totally different aspect and application thereof.\n\nNor is this distinction by any means unimportant. Quite the opposite.\nIndeed, so important is it that where it is overlooked, there must be\nconfusion as to the full doctrine of atonement. Nor is this all. A\nclear understanding of God's ways in government, whether in the past,\nthe present, or the future, will be found involved in this profoundly\ninteresting point. And finally, in it will be found the key wherewith\nto expound a number of texts in which many Christians find\nconsiderable difficulty. I shall just adduce two or three of these\npassages as examples.\n\n\"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the _sin_ of the world.\"\n(John i. 29.) With this we may connect a kindred passage in John's\nfirst epistle, in which the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as \"the\npropitiation for the whole world.\"[23] (Chap. ii. 2.) In both these\npassages the Lord Jesus is referred to as the One who has perfectly\nglorified God with respect to \"_sin_\" and \"_the world_,\" in their\nbroadest acceptation. He is here seen as the great Antitype of \"the\ngoat on which the Lord's lot fell.\" This gives us a most precious view\nof the atonement of Christ, and one which is too much overlooked, or\nnot clearly apprehended. Whenever the question of _persons_ and the\nforgiveness of _sins_ is raised in connection with these and kindred\npassages of Scripture, the mind is sure to get involved in insuperable\ndifficulties.\n\n [23] The reader will observe, in the above passage, that the words\n \"the sins of\" are introduced by the translators, and are not inspired.\n The divine accuracy of the passage is completely lost by retaining\n those uninspired words. The doctrine laid down is simply this: In the\n first clause of the verse, Christ is set forth as the propitiation for\n His people's actual _sins_; but in the last clause, it is not a\n question of _sins_ or of _persons_ at all, but of _sin_ and the\n _world_ in general. In fact, the whole verse presents Christ as the\n Antitype of the two goats, as the One who has borne His people's sins;\n and also as the One who has perfectly glorified God with respect to\n sin in general, and made provision for dealing in grace with the world\n at large, and for the final deliverance and blessing of the whole\n creation.\n\nSo, also, with respect to all those passages in which God's grace to\nthe world at large is presented. They are founded upon that special\naspect of the atonement with which we are more immediately occupied.\n\"Go ye into _all the world_ and preach the gospel _to every\ncreature_.\" (Mark xvi.)--\"God so loved _the world_, that He gave His\nonly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish,\nbut have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to\ncondemn _the world_, but that the world through Him might be saved.\"\n(John iii. 16, 17.)--\"I exhort, therefore, that first of all,\nsupplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made\nfor _all men_; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we\nmay lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For\nthis is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will\nhave _all men_ to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the\ntruth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the\nMan Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a _ransom for all_, to be testified\nin due time.\" (1 Tim. ii. 1-6.)--\"For _the grace of God_ that bringeth\nsalvation hath appeared to _all men_.\" (Titus ii. 11.)--\"But we see\nJesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering\nof death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by _the grace of God_\nshould taste death _for every man_.\" (Heb. ii. 9.)--\"The Lord is not\nslack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is\nlong-suffering to usward, not willing that _any_ should perish, but\nthat all should come to repentance.\" (2 Peter iii. 9.)\n\nThere is no need whatsoever for seeking to avoid the plain sense of\nthe above and similar passages. They bear a clear and unequivocal\ntestimony to divine grace toward all, without the slightest reference\nto man's responsibility on the one hand, or to God's eternal counsels\non the other. These things are just as clearly, just as fully, just\nas unequivocally, taught in the Word. Man is responsible and God is\nsovereign. All who bow to Scripture admit these things. But, at the\nsame time, it is of the very last importance to recognize the wide\naspect of the grace of God and of the cross of Christ. It glorifies\nGod, and leaves man _wholly_ without excuse. Men argue about God's\ndecrees and man's incompetency to believe without divine influence.\nTheir arguments prove that they do not want God; for did they only\nwant Him, He is near enough to be found of them. The grace of God and\nthe atonement of Christ are as wide as they could desire. \"_Any_,\"\n\"_every_,\" \"_whosoever_,\" and \"_all_\" are God's own words; and I\nshould like to know who is shut out. If God sends a message of\nsalvation to a man, He surely intends it for him; and what can be more\nwicked and impious than to reject God's grace, and make Him a liar,\nand then give His secret decrees as a reason for so doing? It would\nbe, in a certain sense, honest for a man to say at once, The fact is,\nI do not believe God's Word, and I do not want His grace or His\nsalvation. One could understand this; but for men to cover their\nhatred of God and His truth with the drapery of a false, because\none-sided, theology, is the very highest character of wickedness. It\nis such as to make us feel, of a truth, that the devil is never more\ndiabolical than when he appears with the Bible in his hand.\n\nIf it be true that men are prevented by God's secret decrees and\ncounsels from receiving the gospel, which He has commanded to be\npreached to them, then on what principle of righteousness will they be\n\"punished with everlasting destruction\" for not obeying that gospel?\n(2 Thess. i. 6-10.) Is there a single soul throughout all the gloomy\nregions of the lost who blames God's counsels for his being there? Not\none. Oh, no; God has made such ample provision in the atonement of\nChrist, not only for the salvation of those that believe, but also for\nthe aspect of His grace toward those that reject the gospel, that\nthere is no excuse. It is not because a man _cannot_, but because he\n_will not_ believe that he \"shall be punished with everlasting\ndestruction.\" Never was there a more fatal mistake than for a man to\nensconce himself behind God's decrees, while deliberately and\nintelligently refusing God's grace; and this is all the more dangerous\nbecause supported by the dogmas of a one-sided theology. God's grace\nis free to all; and if we ask, How is this? the answer is, \"Jehovah's\nlot\" fell upon the true Victim, in order that He might be perfectly\nglorified as to sin, in its widest aspect, and be free to act in grace\ntoward all, and \"preach the gospel to every creature.\" This grace and\nthis preaching must have a solid basis, and that basis is found in the\natonement; and though man should reject, God is glorified in the\nexercise of grace and in the offer of salvation, because of the oasis\non which both the one and the other repose. He _is_ glorified, and He\n_shall be_ glorified throughout eternity's countless ages.--\"Now is My\nsoul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour:\nbut for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name.\nThen came there a voice from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified\nit, and will glorify it again.'... Now is the judgment of this world:\nnow shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted\nup from the earth, will draw all unto Me.\" (John xii. 27-32.)\n\nThus far we have been occupied only with one special point, namely,\n\"the goat on which the Lord's lot fell;\" and a cursory reader might\nsuppose that the next thing in order would be the scape-goat, which\ngives us the other great aspect of the death of Christ, or its\napplication to the sins of the people. But no; ere we come to that, we\nhave the fullest confirmation of that precious line of truth which has\nbeen before us, in the fact that the blood of the slain goat, together\nwith the blood of the bullock, was sprinkled upon and before Jehovah's\nthrone, in order to show that all the claims of that throne were\nanswered in the blood of atonement, and full provision made for all\nthe demands of God's moral administration.\n\n\"And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin-offering which is for\nhimself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house,\nand shall kill the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself.\nAnd he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the\naltar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten\nsmall, and bring it within the vail. And he shall put the incense upon\nthe fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the\nmercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not.\" Here we have\na most vivid and striking presentation indeed. The blood of atonement\nis carried in within the vail, into the holiest of all, and there\nsprinkled upon the throne of the God of Israel. The cloud of the\ndivine presence was there; and in order that Aaron might appear in the\nimmediate presence of the glory and not die, \"the cloud of incense\"\nascends and \"covers the mercy-seat,\" on which the blood of atonement\nwas to be sprinkled \"seven times.\" The \"_sweet_ incense beaten\n_small_\" expresses the fragrance of Christ's Person--the sweet odor of\nHis most precious sacrifice.\n\n\"And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with\nhis finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat\nshall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall\nhe kill the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people, and bring\nhis blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the\nblood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before\nthe mercy-seat.\" (Ver. 14, 15.) \"Seven\" is the perfect number; and in\nthe sprinkling of the blood seven times before the mercy-seat, we\nlearn that whatever be the application of the atonement of Christ,\nwhether as to things, to places, or to persons, it is perfectly\nestimated in the divine presence. The blood which secures the\nsalvation of the Church--the \"house\" of the true Aaron; the blood\nwhich secures the salvation of the \"congregation\" of Israel; the\nblood which secures the final restoration and blessedness of the whole\ncreation--that blood has been presented before God, sprinkled and\naccepted according to all the perfectness, fragrance, and preciousness\nof Christ. In the power of that blood God can accomplish all His\neternal counsels of grace. He can save the Church, and raise it into\nthe very loftiest heights of glory and dignity, despite of all the\npower of sin and Satan; He can restore Israel's scattered tribes; He\ncan unite Judah and Ephraim; He can accomplish all the promises made\nto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; He can save and bless untold millions of\nthe Gentiles; He can restore and bless the wide creation; He can allow\nthe beams of His glory to lighten up the universe forever; He can\ndisplay, in the view of angels, men, and devils, His own eternal\nglory--the glory of His character, the glory of His nature, the glory\nof His works, the glory of His government,--all this He can do, and\nwill do; but the one solitary pedestal upon which the stupendous\nfabric of glory shall rest forever, is the blood of the cross--that\nprecious blood, dear Christian reader, which has spoken peace--divine\nand everlasting peace--to your heart and conscience, in the presence\nof Infinite Holiness. The blood which is sprinkled upon the believer's\nconscience has been sprinkled \"seven times\" before the throne of God.\nThe nearer we get to God, the more importance and value we find\nattached to the blood of Jesus. If we look at the brazen altar, we\nfind the blood there; if we look at the brazen laver, we find the\nblood there; if we look at the golden altar, we find the blood there;\nif we look at the vail of the tabernacle, we find the blood there: but\nin no place do we find so much about the blood as within the vail,\nbefore Jehovah's throne, in the immediate presence of the divine\nglory.\n\n \"In heaven His blood forever speaks,\n In God the Father's ears.\"\n\n\"And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the\nuncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their\ntransgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the\ntabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst\nof their uncleanness.\" The same truth meets us all along. The claims\nof the sanctuary must be provided for. Jehovah's courts, as well as\nHis throne, must bear witness to the value of the blood. The\ntabernacle, in the midst of Israel's uncleanness, must be fenced round\nabout by the divine provisions of atonement. Jehovah provided, in all\nthings, for His own glory. The priests and their priestly service, the\nplace of worship and all therein, must stand in the power of the\nblood. The Holy One could not have remained for a moment in the midst\nof the congregation were it not for the power of the blood. It was\nthat which left Him free to dwell and act and rule in the midst of an\nerring people.\n\n\"And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when\nhe goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out,\nand have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and\nfor all the congregation of Israel.\" (Ver. 17.) Aaron needed to offer\nup sacrifice for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.\nHe could only enter into the sanctuary in the power of the blood. We\nhave, in verse 17, a type of the atonement of Christ in its\napplication both to the Church and to the congregation of Israel. The\nChurch now enters into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. (Heb. x.) As\nto Israel, the vail is still on their hearts. (2 Cor. iii.) They are\nstill at a distance, although full provision has been made in the\ncross for their forgiveness and restoration when they shall turn to\nthe Lord. This entire period is, properly speaking, the day of\natonement. The true Aaron is gone in, with His own blood, into heaven\nitself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. By and by He will\ncome forth to lead the congregation of Israel into the full results of\nHis accomplished work. Meanwhile, His house--that is to say, all true\nbelievers--is associated with Him, having boldness to enter into the\nholiest, being brought nigh by the blood of Jesus.\n\n\"And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make\nan atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and\nof the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round\nabout. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger\nseven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the\nchildren of Israel.\" (Ver. 18, 19.) Thus the atoning blood was\nsprinkled every where, from the throne of God within the vail, to the\naltar which stood in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.\n\"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens\nshould be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with\nbetter sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy\nplaces made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into\nheaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet\nthat He should offer Himself often, as the high-priest entereth into\nthe holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He often\nhave suffered since the foundation of the world; but now _once_ in the\nend of the world [at the end of every thing earthly, every thing\nhuman] hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.\nAnd as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the\njudgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and\nunto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without\nsin unto salvation.\" (Heb. ix. 23-28.)\n\nThere is but one way into the holiest of all, and that is a\nblood-sprinkled way. It is vain to strive to enter by any other. Men\nmay attempt to work themselves in, to pray themselves in, to buy\nthemselves in, to get in by a pathway of ordinances, or it may be, of\nhalf ordinances, half Christ; but it is of no use. God speaks of _one_\nway, and but one, and that way has been thrown open through the rent\nvail of the Saviour's flesh. Along that way have the millions of the\nsaved passed, from age to age; patriarchs, prophets, apostles,\nmartyrs, saints in every age, from Abel downwards, have trod that\nblessed way, and found thereby sure and undisputed access. The _one_\nsacrifice of the cross is divinely sufficient for all. God asks no\nmore, and He can take no less. To add aught thereto is to cast\ndishonor upon that with which God has declared Himself well pleased,\nyea, in which He is infinitely glorified: to diminish aught therefrom\nis to deny man's guilt and ruin, and offer an indignity to the justice\nand majesty of the eternal Trinity.\n\n\"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the\ntabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live\ngoat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live\ngoat, and confess over him _all_ the iniquities of the children of\nIsrael, and _all_ their transgressions in _all_ their sins, putting\nthem upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of\na fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him _all_\ntheir iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the\ngoat in the wilderness.\"\n\nHere, then, we have the other grand idea attached to the death of\nChrist, namely, the full and final forgiveness of the people. If the\ndeath of Christ forms the foundation of the glory of God, it also\nforms the foundation of the perfect forgiveness of sins to all who put\ntheir trust in it. This latter, blessed be God, is but a secondary--an\ninferior application of the atonement, though our foolish hearts\nwould fain regard it as the very highest possible view of the cross to\nsee in it that which puts away all our sins. This is a mistake. God's\nglory is the first thing, our salvation is the second. To maintain\nGod's glory was the chief--the darling object of the heart of Christ.\nThis object He pursued from first to last, with an undeviating purpose\nand unflinching fidelity. \"Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I\nlay down My life, that I might take it again.\" (John x. 17.) \"Now is\nthe Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be\nglorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall\nstraightway glorify Him.\" (John xiii. 31, 32.) \"Listen, O isles, unto\nMe; and hearken, ye people from far: the Lord hath called Me from the\nwomb; from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name.\nAnd He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His\nhand hath He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft: in His quiver hath\nHe hid Me; and said unto Me, 'Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in whom\n_I will be glorified_.'\" (Isaiah xlix. 1-3.)\n\nThus the glory of God was the paramount object of the Lord Jesus\nChrist, in life and in death. He lived and died to glorify His\nFather's name. Does the Church lose aught by this? Nay. Does Israel?\nNay. Do the Gentiles? Nay. In no way could their salvation and\nblessedness be so perfectly provided for as by being made subsidiary\nto the glory of God. Hearken to the divine response to Christ, the\ntrue Israel, in the sublime passage just quoted. \"It is a light thing\nthat Thou shouldest be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and\nto restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light\nto the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation to the ends of the\nearth.\"\n\nAnd is it not a blessed thing to know that God is glorified in the\nputting away of our sins? We may ask, Where are our sins? Put away. By\nwhat? By that act of Christ upon the cross, in which God has been\neternally glorified. Thus it is. The two goats, on the day of\natonement, give the double aspect of the one act. In the one, we see\nGod's glory maintained; in the other, sins put away. The one is as\nperfect as the other. We are as perfectly forgiven as God is perfectly\nglorified, by the death of Christ. Was there one single point in which\nGod was not glorified in the cross? Not one. Neither is there one\nsingle point in which we are not perfectly forgiven. I say \"we;\" for\nalbeit the congregation of Israel is the primary object contemplated\nin the beautiful and impressive ordinance of the scape-goat, yet does\nit hold good, in the fullest way, with respect to every soul that\nbelieves on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is as perfectly forgiven as\nGod is perfectly glorified, by the atonement of the cross. How many of\nthe sins of Israel did the scape-goat bear away? \"_All._\" Precious\nword! Not one left behind. And whither did he bear them? \"Into a land\nnot inhabited\"--a land where they could never be found, because there\nwas no one there to look for them. Could any type be more perfect?\ncould we possibly have a more graphic picture of Christ's\naccomplished sacrifice, in its primary and secondary aspects?\nImpossible. We can hang with intense admiration over such a picture,\nand as we gaze, exclaim, Of a truth, the pencil of the Master is here!\n\nReader, pause here, and say, do you know that _all_your sins are\nforgiven, according to the perfection of Christ's sacrifice? If you\nsimply _believe_ on His name, they are so,--they are all gone, and\ngone forever. Say not, as so many anxious souls do, \"I fear I do not\n_realize_.\" There is no such word as \"realize\" in the entire gospel.\nWe are not saved by realization, but by Christ; and the way to get\nChrist in all His fullness and preciousness is to believe--\"_only\nbelieve!_\" And what will be the result? \"The worshipers once purged\nshould have no more conscience of sins.\" Observe this,--\"No more\nconscience of sins.\" This must be the result, inasmuch as Christ's\nsacrifice is perfect--so perfect, that God is glorified therein. Now,\nit must be obvious to you that Christ's work does not need your\nrealization to be added to it to make it perfect. This could not be.\nWe might as well say that the work of creation was not complete until\nAdam realized it in the garden of Eden. True, he did realize; but what\ndid he realize? A perfect work. Thus let it be with your precious soul\nthis moment, if it has never been so before. May you now and evermore\nrepose, in artless simplicity, upon the One who has, by one offering,\nperfected forever them that are sanctified. And how are they\nsanctified? Is it by realization? By no means. How then? By the\nperfect work of Christ.\n\nHaving sought (alas! most feebly) to unfold the doctrine of this\nmarvelous chapter, so far as God has given me light upon it, there is\njust one point further to which I shall merely call my reader's\nattention ere I close this section. It is contained in the following\nquotation: \"And this shall be a statute forever unto you, that in the\nseventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your\nsouls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or\na stranger that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall the priest\nmake an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from\n_all_ your sins _before the Lord_. It shall be _a Sabbath of rest_,\nand ye shall _afflict your souls_, by a statute forever.\" (Ver.\n29-31.)\n\nThis shall have its full accomplishment in the saved remnant of Israel\nby and by, as foretold by the prophet Zechariah,--\"And I will pour\nupon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the\nspirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom\nthey have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for\nhis only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in\nbitterness for his first-born. _In that day_ shall there be _a great\nmourning_ in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley\nof Megiddon.... _In that day_ there shall be a _fountain opened_ to\nthe house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and\nfor uncleanness.... And it shall come to pass _in that day_ that the\nlight shall not be clear [in one place] and dark [in another]; but it\nshall be one day, [the true and long-expected Sabbath,] which shall be\nknown to the Lord, not day nor night; but it shall come to pass that\nat evening time it shall be light. And it shall be _in that day_ that\nliving waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the\nformer sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in\nwinter shall it be. And THE LORD SHALL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH: _in\nthat day_ shall there be one Lord, and His name one.... _In that day_\nshall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE\nLORD.... And _in that day_ there shall be no more the Canaanite in the\nhouse of the Lord of hosts.\" (Zech. xii.-xiv.)\n\nWhat a day that will be! No marvel that it should be so frequently and\nso emphatically introduced in the above glowing passage. It will be a\nbright and blessed \"Sabbath of rest\" when the mourning remnant shall\ngather, in the spirit of true penitence, around the open fountain, and\nenter into the full and final results of the great day of atonement.\nThey shall \"afflict their souls,\" no doubt; for how could they do\notherwise, while fixing their repentant gaze \"upon Him whom they have\npierced\"? But, oh, what a Sabbath they will have! Jerusalem will have\na brimming cup of salvation, after her long and dreary night of\nsorrow. Her former desolations shall be forgotten, and her children,\nrestored to their long-lost dwellings, shall take down their harps\nfrom the willows, and sing once more the sweet songs of Zion, beneath\nthe peaceful shade of the vine and fig-tree.\n\nBlessed be God, the time is at hand. Every setting sun brings us\nnearer to that blissful Sabbath. The word is, \"Surely, I come\nquickly;\" and all around seems to tell us that \"the days are at hand,\nand the effect of every vision.\" May we be \"sober, and watch unto\nprayer.\" May we keep ourselves unspotted from the world; and thus, in\nthe spirit of our minds, the affections of our hearts, and the\nexperience of our souls, be ready to meet the heavenly Bridegroom. Our\nplace for the present is outside the camp. Thank God that it is so! It\nwould be an unspeakable loss to be inside. The same cross which has\nbrought us inside the vail has cast us outside the camp. Christ was\ncast out thither, and we are with Him there; but He has been received\nup into heaven, and we are with Him there. Is it not a mercy to be\noutside of all that which has rejected our blessed Lord and Master?\nTruly so; and the more we know of Jesus, and the more we know of this\npresent evil world, the more thankful we shall be to find our place\noutside of it all _with Him_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\nIn this chapter the reader will find two special points, namely,\nfirst, that life belongs to Jehovah; and secondly, that the power of\natonement is in the blood. The Lord attached peculiar importance to\nboth these things. He would have them impressed upon every member of\nthe congregation.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto Aaron, and unto\nhis sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, This\nis the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying, What man soever\nthere be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat,\nin the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, and bringeth it not\nunto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an\noffering unto the Lord, before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall\nbe imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be\ncut off from among his people.\" This was a most solemn matter; and we\nmay ask what was involved in offering a sacrifice otherwise than in\nthe manner here prescribed. It was nothing less than robbing Jehovah\nof His rights, and presenting to Satan that which was due to God. A\nman might say, Can I not offer a sacrifice in one place as well as\nanother? The answer is, Life belongs to God, and His claim thereto\nmust be recognized in the place which He has appointed--before the\ntabernacle of the Lord. That was the only meeting-place between God\nand man. To offer elsewhere proved that the heart did not want God.\n\nThe moral of this is plain. There is one place where God has appointed\nto meet the sinner, and that is the cross--the antitype of the brazen\naltar. There and there alone has God's claims upon the life been duly\nrecognized. To reject this meeting-place is to bring down judgment\nupon one's self--it is to trample under foot the just claims of God,\nand to arrogate to one's self a right to life which all have\nforfeited. It is important to see this.\n\n\"And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord,\nat the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat\nfor a sweet savor unto the Lord.\" The blood and the fat belonged to\nGod. The blessed Jesus fully recognized this. He surrendered His life\nto God, and all His hidden energies were devoted to Him likewise. He\nvoluntarily walked to the altar and there gave up His precious life;\nand the fragrant odor of His intrinsic excellency ascended to the\nthrone of God. Blessed Jesus! it is sweet, at every step of our way,\nto be reminded of Thee.\n\nThe second point above referred to is clearly stated in verse\n11.--\"For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it\nto you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls, for IT IS\nTHE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL.\" The connection\nbetween the two points is deeply interesting. When man duly takes his\nplace as one possessing no title whatsoever to life--when he fully\nrecognizes God's claims upon him, then the divine record is, \"I have\ngiven you the life to make an atonement for your soul.\" Yes; atonement\nis God's gift to man; and be it carefully noted that this atonement is\nin the blood, and _only_ in the blood. \"It is _the blood_ that maketh\nan atonement for the soul.\" It is not the blood _and_ something else.\nThe word is most explicit. It attributes atonement exclusively to _the\nblood_. \"Without shedding of _blood_ is no remission.\" (Heb. ix. 22.)\nIt was the _death_ of Christ that rent the vail. It is \"by _the blood_\nof Jesus\" we have \"boldness to enter into the holiest.\" \"We have\nredemption through His _blood_, the forgiveness of sins.\" (Eph. i. 7;\nCol. i. 14.) \"Having made peace by _the blood_ of His cross.\" \"Ye who\nwere afar off are made nigh by _the blood_ of His cross.\" \"_The blood_\nof Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.\" (1 John i. 7.)\n\"They washed their robes and made them white in _the blood_ of the\nLamb.\" (Rev. vii.) \"They overcame him by _the blood_ of the Lamb.\"\n(Rev. xii.)\n\nI would desire to call my reader's earnest attention to the precious\nand vital doctrine of the blood. I am anxious that he should see its\ntrue place. The blood of Christ is the foundation of every thing. It\nis the ground of God's righteousness in justifying an ungodly sinner\nthat believes on the name of the Son of God; and it is the ground of\nthe sinner's confidence in drawing nigh to a holy God, who is of purer\neyes than to behold evil. God would be just in the condemnation of the\nsinner; but through the death of Christ, He can be just and the\njustifier of him that believeth--a just God and a Saviour. The\nrighteousness of God is His consistency with Himself--His acting in\nharmony with His revealed character. Hence, were it not for the cross,\nHis consistency with Himself would, of necessity, demand the death\nand judgment of the sinner; but in the cross, that death and judgment\nwere borne by the sinner's Surety, so that the same divine consistency\nis perfectly maintained, while a holy God justifies an ungodly sinner\nthrough faith. _It is all through the blood of Jesus_--nothing less,\nnothing more, nothing different. \"It is the blood that maketh an\natonement for the soul.\" This is conclusive. This is God's simple plan\nof justification. Man's plan is much more cumbrous, much more\nroundabout. And not only is it cumbrous and roundabout, but it\nattributes righteousness to something quite different from what I find\nin the Word. If I look from the third chapter of Genesis down to the\nclose of Revelation, I find the blood of Christ put forward as the\nalone ground of righteousness. We get pardon, peace, life,\nrighteousness--all by the blood, and nothing but the blood. The entire\nbook of Leviticus, and particularly the chapter upon which we have\njust been meditating, is a commentary upon the doctrine of the blood.\nIt seems strange to have to insist upon a fact so obvious to every\ndispassionate, teachable student of holy Scripture; yet so it is. Our\nminds are prone to slip away from the plain testimony of the Word. We\nare ready to adopt opinions without ever calmly investigating them in\nthe light of the divine testimonies. In this way we get into\nconfusion, darkness, and error.\n\nMay we all learn to give the blood of Christ its due place. It is so\nprecious in God's sight that He will not suffer aught else to be added\nto or mingled with it. \"The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I\nhave given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your\nsouls: for _it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul_.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XVIII.-XX.\n\n\nThis section sets before us, in a very remarkable manner, the personal\nsanctity and moral propriety which Jehovah looked for on the part of\nthose whom He had graciously introduced into relationship with\nHimself; and, at the same time, it presents a most humiliating picture\nof the enormities of which human nature is capable.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of\nIsrael, and say unto them, _I am the Lord your God_.'\" Here we have\nthe foundation of the entire superstructure of moral conduct which\nthese chapters present. Israel's actings were to take their character\nfrom the fact that Jehovah was _their_ God. They were called to\ncomport themselves in a manner worthy of so high and holy a position.\nIt was God's prerogative to set forth the special character and line\nof conduct becoming a people with whom He was pleased to associate His\nname. Hence the frequency of the expressions, \"I am the Lord,\" \"I am\nthe Lord your God,\" \"I the Lord your God am holy.\" Jehovah was their\nGod, and He was holy; hence, therefore, they were called to be holy\nlikewise. His name was involved in their character and acting.\n\nThis is the true principle of holiness for the people of God in all\nages. They are to be governed and characterized by the revelation\nwhich He has made of Himself. Their conduct is to be founded upon what\nHe is, not upon what they are in themselves. This entirely sets aside\nthe principle expressed in the words, \"Stand by thyself, I am holier\nthan thou;\" a principle so justly repudiated by every sensitive mind.\nIt is not a comparison of one man with another, but a simple statement\nof the line of conduct which God looks for in those who belong to Him.\n\"After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not\ndo; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you,\nshall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.\" The\nEgyptians and the Canaanites were all wrong. How was Israel to know\nthis? Who told them? How came they to be right and all besides wrong?\nThese are interesting inquiries; and the answer is as simple as the\nquestions are interesting. Jehovah's Word was the standard by which\nall questions of right and wrong were to be definitely settled in the\njudgment of every member of the Israel of God. It was not, by any\nmeans, the judgment of an Israelite in opposition to the judgment of\nan Egyptian or of a Canaanite; but it was the judgment of God above\n_all_. Egypt might have her practices and her opinions, and so might\nCanaan; but Israel were to have the opinions and practices laid down\nin the Word of God. \"Ye shall do My judgments, and keep Mine\nordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall\ntherefore keep My statutes and My judgments; which, if a man do, he\nshall live in them: I am the Lord.\"\n\nIt will be well for my reader to get a clear, deep, full, practical\nsense of this truth. The Word of God must settle every question and\ngovern every conscience: there must be no appeal from its solemn and\nweighty decision. When God speaks, every heart must bow. Men may form\nand hold their opinions; they may adopt and defend their practices;\nbut one of the finest traits in the character of \"the Israel of God\"\nis, profound reverence for, and implicit subjection to, \"every word\nthat proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.\" The exhibition of this\nvaluable feature may perhaps lay them open to the charge of dogmatism,\nsuperciliousness, and self-sufficiency, on the part of those who have\nnever duly weighed the matter; but, in truth, nothing can be more\nunlike dogmatism than simple subjection to the plain truth of God;\nnothing more unlike superciliousness than reverence for the statements\nof inspiration; nothing more unlike self-sufficiency than subjection\nto the divine authority of holy Scripture.\n\nTrue, there will ever be the need of carefulness as to the tone and\nmanner in which we set forth the authority for our convictions and our\nconduct. It must be made manifest, so far as it may be, that we are\nwholly governed, not by our own opinions, but by the Word of God.\nThere is great danger of attaching an importance to an opinion merely\nbecause _we_ have adopted it. This must be carefully guarded against.\n_Self_ may creep in and display its deformity in the defense of our\nopinions as much as in any thing else; but we must disallow it in\nevery shape and form, and be governed in all things by \"Thus saith the\nLord.\"\n\nBut then we are not to expect that every one will be ready to admit\nthe full force of the divine statutes and judgments. It is as persons\nwalk in the integrity and energy of the divine nature that the Word of\nGod will be owned, appreciated, and reverenced. An Egyptian or a\nCanaanite would have been wholly unable to enter into the meaning or\nestimate the value of these statutes and judgments, which were to\ngovern the conduct of the circumcised people of God; but that did not\nin any wise affect the question of Israel's obedience. They were\nbrought into a certain relationship with Jehovah, and that\nrelationship had its distinctive privileges and responsibilities. \"I\nam the Lord _your_ God.\" This was to be the ground of their conduct.\nThey were to act in a way worthy of the One who had become _their_\nGod, and made them _His_ people. It was not that they were a whit\nbetter than other people. By no means. The Egyptians or Canaanites\nmight have considered that the Israelites were setting themselves up\nas something superior in refusing to adopt the habits of either\nnation. But no; the foundation of their peculiar line of conduct and\ntone of morality was laid in these words: \"_I_ am the Lord _your\nGod_.\"\n\nIn this great and practically important fact, Jehovah set before His\npeople a ground of conduct which was immovable, and a standard of\nmorality which was as elevated and as enduring as the eternal throne\nitself. The moment He entered into a relationship with a people, their\nethics were to assume a character and tone worthy of Him. It was no\nlonger a question as to what they were, either in themselves or in\ncomparison with others; but of what God was in comparison with all.\nThis makes a material difference. To make _self_ the ground of action\nor the standard of ethics is not only presumptuous folly, but it is\nsure to set one upon a descending scale of action. If self be my\nobject, I must, of necessity, sink lower and lower every day; but if,\non the other hand, I set the Lord before me, I shall rise higher and\nhigher as, by the power of the Holy Ghost, I grow in conformity to\nthat perfect model which is unfolded to the gaze of faith in the\nsacred pages of inspiration. I shall undoubtedly have to prostrate\nmyself in the dust, under a sense of how infinitely short I come of\nthe mark set before me; but then I can never consent to the setting up\nof a lower standard, nor can I ever be satisfied until I am conformed\nin all things to Him who was my substitute on the cross, and is my\nmodel in the glory.\n\nHaving said thus much on the main principle of the section before\nus--a principle of unspeakable importance to Christians, in a\npractical point of view, I feel it needless to enter into any thing\nlike a detailed exposition of statutes which speak for themselves in\nmost obvious terms. I would merely remark that those statutes range\nthemselves under two distinct heads, namely, first, those which set\nforth the shameful enormities which the human heart is capable of\ndevising; and secondly, those which exhibit the exquisite tenderness\nand considerate care of the God of Israel.\n\nAs to the first, it is manifest that the Spirit of God could never\nenact laws for the purpose of preventing evils that have no existence.\nHe does not construct a dam where there is no flood to be resisted: He\ndoes not deal with abstract ideas, but with positive realities. Man\nis, in very deed, capable of perpetrating each and every one of the\nshameful crimes referred to in this most faithful section of the book\nof Leviticus. If he were not, why should he be told not to do so. Such\na code would be wholly unsuitable for angels, inasmuch as they are\nincapable of committing the sins referred to; but it suits man,\nbecause he has gotten the seeds of those sins in his nature. This is\ndeeply humbling. It is a fresh declaration of the truth that man is a\ntotal wreck. From the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, there\nis not so much as a single speck of moral soundness, as looked at in\nthe light of the divine presence. The being for whom Jehovah thought\nit needful to write Leviticus xviii.-xx. must be a vile sinner; but\nthat being is _man_--the writer and reader of these lines. How plain\nit is, therefore, that \"they that are in the flesh _cannot_ please\nGod.\" (Rom. viii.) Thank God, the believer is \"not in the flesh, but\nin the Spirit.\" He has been taken completely out of his old-creation\nstanding, and introduced into the new creation, in which the moral\nevils aimed at in this our section can have no existence. True, he has\ngotten the old nature; but it is his happy privilege to \"reckon\" it as\na dead thing, and to walk in the abiding power of the new creation,\nwherein \"all things are of God.\" This is Christian liberty, even\nliberty to walk up and down in that fair creation where no trace of\nevil can ever be found,--hallowed liberty to walk in holiness and\npurity before God and man,--liberty to tread those lofty walks of\npersonal sanctity whereon the beams of the divine countenance ever\npour themselves in living lustre. Reader, this is Christian liberty.\nIt is liberty, not to commit sin, but to taste the celestial sweets of\na life of true holiness and moral elevation. May we prize more highly\nthan we have ever done this precious boon of heaven--Christian\nliberty.\n\nAnd now, one word as to the second class of statutes contained in our\nsection, namely, those which so touchingly bring out divine tenderness\nand care. Take the following: \"And when ye reap the harvest of your\nland, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither\nshalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not\nglean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy\nvineyard; _thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger_: I am the\nLord your God.\" (Chap. xix. 9, 10.) This ordinance will meet us again\nin chapter xxiii. but there we shall see it in its dispensational\nbearing. Here, we contemplate it morally, as unfolding the precious\ngrace of Israel's God. He would think of \"the poor and stranger,\" and\nHe would have His people think of them likewise. When the golden\nsheaves were being reaped, and the mellow clusters gathered, \"the poor\nand stranger\" were to be remembered by the Israel of God, because\nJehovah was the God of Israel. The reaper and the grape-gatherer were\nnot to be governed by a spirit of grasping covetousness, which would\nbare the corners of the field and strip the branches of the vine, but\nrather by a spirit of large-hearted, genuine benevolence, which would\nleave a sheaf and a cluster \"for the poor and stranger,\" that they too\nmight rejoice in the unbounded goodness of Him whose paths drop\nfatness, and on whose open hand all the sons of want may confidently\nwait.\n\nThe book of Ruth furnishes a fine example of one who fully acted out\nthis most benevolent statute. \"And Boaz said unto her, [Ruth,] 'At\nmeal-time, come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel\nin the vinegar.' And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her\nparched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. And when\nshe was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, 'Let\nher glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not; _and let fall\nalso some of the handfuls of purpose for her_, and leave them, that\nshe may glean them, and rebuke her not.'\" (Ruth ii. 14-16.) Most\ntouching and beautiful grace! Truly, it is good for our poor selfish\nhearts to be brought in contact with such principles and such\npractices. Nothing can surpass the exquisite refinement of the words,\n\"let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her.\" It was\nevidently the desire of this noble Israelite that \"the stranger\" might\nhave abundance, and have it, too, rather as the fruit of her own\ngleaning than of his benevolence. This was the very essence of\nrefinement. It was putting her in immediate connection with, and\ndependence upon, the God of Israel, who had fully recognized and\nprovided for \"the gleaner.\" Boaz was merely acting out that gracious\nordinance of which Ruth was reaping the benefit. The same grace that\nhad given him the field gave her the gleanings. They were both debtors\nto grace. She was the happy recipient of Jehovah's goodness: he was\nthe honored exponent of Jehovah's most gracious institution. All was\nin most lovely moral order. The creature was blessed and God was\nglorified. Who would not own that it is good for us to be allowed to\nbreathe such an atmosphere?\n\nLet us now turn to another statute of our section. \"Thou shalt not\ndefraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired\nshall not abide with thee all night until the morning.\" (Chap. xix.\n13.) What tender care is here! The High and Mighty One that inhabiteth\neternity can take knowledge of the thoughts and feelings that spring\nup in the heart of a poor laborer. He knows and takes into account the\nexpectations of such an one in reference to the fruit of his day's\ntoil. The wages will naturally be looked for. The laborer's heart\ncounts upon them: the family meal depends upon them. Oh! let them not\nbe held back: send not the laborer home with a heavy heart, to make\nthe heart of his wife and family heavy likewise. By all means, give\nhim that for which he has wrought, to which he has a right, and on\nwhich his heart is set. He is a husband, he is a father, and he has\nborne the burden and heat of the day that his wife and children may\nnot go hungry to bed. Disappoint him not: give him his due. Thus does\nour God take notice of the very throbbings of the laborer's heart, and\nmake provision for his rising expectations. Precious grace! Most\ntender, thoughtful, touching, condescending love! The bare\ncontemplation of such statutes is sufficient to throw one into a flood\nof tenderness. Could any one read such passages and not be melted?\nCould any one read them and thoughtlessly dismiss a poor laborer, not\nknowing whether he and his family have wherewithal to meet the\ncravings of hunger?\n\nNothing can be more painful to a tender heart than the lack of kindly\nconsideration for the poor so often manifested by the rich. These\nlatter can sit down to their sumptuous repast after dismissing from\ntheir door some poor industrious creature who had come seeking the\njust reward of his honest labor. They think not of the aching heart\nwith which that man returns to his family, to tell them of the\ndisappointment to himself and to them. Oh, it is terrible! It is most\noffensive to God and to all who have drunk, in any measure, into His\ngrace. If we would know what God thinks of such acting, we have only\nto hearken to the following accents of holy indignation: \"Behold, the\nhire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you\nkept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them that have reaped\nhave entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.\" (James v. 4.) \"The\nLord of Sabaoth\" hears the cry of the aggrieved and disappointed\nlaborer. His tender love tells itself forth in the institutions of His\nmoral government; and even though the heart should not be melted by\nthe grace of those institutions, the conduct should, at least, be\ngoverned by the righteousness thereof. God will not suffer the claims\nof the poor to be heartlessly tossed aside by those who are so\nhardened by the influence of wealth as to be insensible to the appeals\nof tenderness, and who are so far removed beyond the region of\npersonal need as to be incapable of feeling for those whose lot it is\nto spend their days amid exhausting toil or pinching poverty. The poor\nare the special objects of God's care. Again and again He makes\nprovision for them in the statutes of His moral administration; and it\nis particularly declared of Him who shall ere long assume, in\nmanifested glory, the reins of government, that \"He shall deliver the\nneedy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He\nshall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.\nHe shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence; and precious\nshall their blood be in His sight.\" (Ps. lxxii. 12-14.)\n\nMay we profit by the review of those precious and deeply practical\ntruths. May our hearts be affected, and our conduct influenced by\nthem. We live in a heartless world; and there is a vast amount of\nselfishness in our own hearts. We are not sufficiently affected by the\nthought of the need of others. We are apt to forget the poor in the\nmidst of our abundance. We often forget that the very persons whose\nlabor ministers to our personal comfort are living, it may be, in the\ndeepest poverty. Let us think of these things. Let us beware of\n\"grinding the faces of the poor.\" If the Jews of old were taught, by\nthe statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic economy, to entertain kindly\nfeelings toward the poor, and to deal tenderly and graciously with the\nsons of toil, how much more ought the higher and more spiritual ethics\nof the gospel dispensation produce in the hearts and lives of\nChristians a large-hearted benevolence toward every form of human\nneed.\n\nTrue, there is urgent need of prudence and caution, lest we take a man\nout of the honorable position in which he was designed and fitted to\nmove, namely, a position of dependence upon the fruits--the precious\nand fragrant fruits--of honest industry. This would be a grievous\ninjury instead of a benefit. The example of Boaz should instruct in\nthis matter. He allowed Ruth to glean; but he took care to make her\ngleaning profitable. This is a very safe and a very simple principle.\nGod intends that man should work at something or another, and we run\ncounter to Him when we draw our fellow out of the place of dependence\nupon the results of patient industry, into that of dependence upon the\nresults of false benevolence. The former is as honorable and elevating\nas the latter is contemptible and demoralizing. There is no bread so\nsweet to the taste as that which in nobly earned; but then those who\nearn their bread should get enough. A man will feed and care for his\nhorses; how much more his fellow, who yields him the labor of his\nhands from Monday morning till Saturday night.\n\nBut some will say, There are two sides to this question.\nUnquestionably there are; and no doubt one meets with a great deal\namongst the poor which is calculated to dry up the springs of\nbenevolence and genuine sympathy. There is much which tends to steel\nthe heart and close the hand; but one thing is certain, it is better\nto be deceived in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred than to shut up\nthe bowels of compassion against a single worthy object. Our heavenly\nFather causes His sun to shine upon the evil and on the good; and\nsendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust. The same sunbeams that\ngladden the heart of some devoted servant of Christ are poured upon\nthe path of some ungodly sinner; and the self-same shower that falls\nupon the tillage of a true believer, enriches also the furrows of some\nblaspheming infidel. This is to be our model. \"Be ye therefore\nperfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.\" (Matt. v.\n48.) It is only as we set the Lord before us, and walk in the power\nof His grace, that we shall be able to go on from day to day,\nmeeting, with a tender heart and an open hand, every possible form of\nhuman misery. It is only as we ourselves are drinking at the\nexhaustless fountain of divine love and tenderness, that we shall be\nable to go on ministering to human need unchecked by the oft-repeated\nmanifestation of human depravity. Our tiny springs would soon be dried\nup were they not maintained in unbroken connection with that\never-gushing source.\n\nThe statute which next presents itself for our consideration,\nexemplifies most touchingly the tender care of the God of Israel.\n\"Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the\nblind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.\" (Ver. 14.) Here a\nbarrier is erected to stem the rising tide of irritability with which\nuncontrolled nature would be almost sure to meet the personal\ninfirmity of deafness. How well we can understand this! Nature does\nnot like to be called upon to repeat its words again and again, in\norder to meet the deaf man's infirmity. Jehovah thought of this, and\nprovided for it. And what is the provision? \"Thou shalt fear thy God.\"\nWhen tried by a deaf person, remember the Lord, and look to Him for\ngrace to enable you to govern your temper.\n\nThe second part of this statute reveals a most humiliating amount of\nwickedness in human nature. The idea of laying a stumbling-block in\nthe way of the blind is about the most wanton cruelty imaginable; and\nyet man is capable of it, else he would not be warned against it. No\ndoubt this, as well as many other statutes, admits of a spiritual\napplication; but that in no wise interferes with the plain literal\nprinciple set forth in it. Man is capable of placing a stumbling-block\nin the way of a fellow-creature afflicted with blindness. Such is man!\nTruly, the Lord knew what was in man when He wrote the statutes and\njudgments of the book of Leviticus.\n\nI shall leave my reader to meditate alone upon the remainder of our\nsection. He will find that each statute teaches a double lesson,\nnamely, a lesson with respect to nature's evil tendencies, and also a\nlesson as to Jehovah's tender care.[24]\n\n [24] Verses 16 and 17 demand special attention. \"Thou shalt not go up\n and down as a talebearer among thy people.\" This is a most seasonable\n admonition for the people of God in every age. A talebearer is sure to\n do incalculable mischief. It has been well remarked that a talebearer\n injures three persons--he injures himself, he injures his hearer, and\n he injures the subject of his tale. All this he does directly; and as\n to the indirect consequences, who can recount them? Let us carefully\n guard against this horrible evil. May we never suffer a tale to pass\n our lips; and let us never stand to hearken to a talebearer. May we\n always know how to drive away a backbiting tongue with an angry\n countenance, as the north wind driveth away rain.\n\n In verse 17, we learn what ought to take the place of talebearing.\n \"Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon\n him.\" In place of carrying to another a tale about my neighbor, I am\n called upon to go directly to himself and rebuke him, if there is any\n thing wrong. This is the divine method. Satan's method is to act the\n talebearer.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XXI. & XXII.\n\n\nThese chapters unfold, with great minuteness of detail, the divine\nrequirements in reference to those who were privileged to draw near as\npriests to \"offer the bread of their God.\" In this, as in the\npreceding section, we have conduct as the _result_, not the procuring\n_cause_ of the relationship. This should be carefully borne in mind.\nThe sons of Aaron were, in virtue of their birth, priests unto God.\nThey all stood in this relationship, one as well as another. It was\nnot a matter of attainment, a question of progress, something which\none had and another had not. All the sons of Aaron were priests; they\nwere born into a priestly place. Their capacity to understand and\nenjoy their position and its attendant privileges was obviously a\ndifferent thing altogether. One might be a babe, and another might\nhave reached the point of mature and vigorous manhood. The former\nwould, of necessity, be unable to eat of the priestly food, being a\nbabe, for whom \"milk,\" and not \"strong meat,\" was adapted; but he was\nas truly a member of the priestly house as the man who could tread,\nwith firm step, the courts of the Lord's house, and feed upon \"the\nwave breast\" and \"heave shoulder\" of the sacrifice.\n\nThis distinction is easily understood in the case of the sons of\nAaron, and hence it will serve to illustrate, in a very simple manner,\nthe truth as to the members of the true priestly house, over which our\ngreat High-Priest presides, and to which all true believers belong.\n(Heb. iii. 6.) Every child of God is a priest. He is enrolled as a\nmember of Christ's priestly house. He may be very ignorant, but his\nposition as a priest is not founded upon knowledge, but upon life; his\nexperience may be very shallow, but his place as a priest does not\ndepend upon experience, but upon life; his capacity may be very\nlimited, but his relationship as a priest does not rest upon an\nenlarged capacity, but upon life. He was born into the position and\nrelationship of a priest: he did not work himself thereinto. It was\nnot by any efforts of his own that he became a priest: he became a\npriest by birth. The spiritual priesthood, together with all the\nspiritual functions attaching thereunto, is the necessary appendage to\nspiritual birth. The capacity to enjoy the privileges and to discharge\nthe functions of a position must not be confounded with the position\nitself: they must ever be kept distinct. Relationship is one thing;\ncapacity is quite another.\n\nFurthermore, in looking at the family of Aaron, we see that nothing\ncould break the relationship between him and his sons. There were many\nthings which would interfere with the full enjoyment of the privileges\nattaching to the relationship. A son of Aaron might \"defile himself by\nthe dead;\" he might defile himself by forming an unholy alliance; he\nmight have some bodily \"blemish;\" he might be \"blind or lame;\" he\nmight be \"a dwarf.\" Any of these things would have interfered very\nmaterially with his enjoyment of the privileges and his discharge of\nthe functions pertaining to his relationship, as we read, \"No man that\nhath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to\noffer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish: he\nshall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the\nbread of his God, both of the most holy and the holy; only he shall\nnot go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath\na blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries; for I the Lord do\nsanctify them.\" (Chap. xxi. 21-23.) But none of these things could\npossibly touch the fact of a relationship founded upon the established\nprinciples of human nature. Though a son of Aaron were a dwarf, that\ndwarf was a son of Aaron. True, he was, as a dwarf, shorn of many\nprecious privileges and lofty dignities pertaining to the priesthood,\nbut he was a son of Aaron all the while. He could neither enjoy the\nsame measure or character of communion, nor yet discharge the same\nelevated functions of priestly service, as one who had reached to\nmanhood's appointed stature; but he was a member of the priestly\nhouse, and as such, permitted to \"eat the bread of his God.\" The\nrelationship was genuine, though the development was so defective.\n\nThe spiritual application of all this is as simple as it is practical.\nTo be a child of God is one thing; to be in the enjoyment of priestly\ncommunion and priestly worship is quite another. The latter is, alas!\ninterfered with by many things. Circumstances and associations are\nallowed to act upon us by their defiling influence. We are not to\nsuppose that all Christians enjoy the same elevation of walk, the same\nintimacy of fellowship, the same felt nearness to Christ. Alas! alas!\nthey do not. Many of us have to mourn over our spiritual defects.\nThere is lameness of walk, defective vision, stunted growth; or we\nallow ourselves to be defiled by contact with evil, and to be weakened\nand hindered by unhallowed associations. In a word, as the sons of\nAaron, though being priests by birth, were nevertheless deprived of\nmany privileges through ceremonial defilement and physical defects; so\nwe, though being priests unto God by spiritual birth, are deprived of\nmany of the high and holy privileges of our position by moral\ndefilement and spiritual defects. We are shorn of many of our\ndignities through defective spiritual development. We lack singleness\nof eye, spiritual vigor, whole-hearted devotedness. Saved we are,\nthrough the free grace of God, on the ground of Christ's perfect\nsacrifice. \"We are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus;\"\nbut then, salvation is one thing; communion is quite another: sonship\nis one thing; obedience is quite another.\n\nThese things should be carefully distinguished. The section before us\nillustrates the distinction with great force and clearness. If one of\nthe sons of Aaron happened to be \"broken-footed or broken-handed,\" was\nhe deprived of his sonship? Assuredly not. Was he deprived of his\npriestly position? By no means. It was distinctly declared, \"He shall\neat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy.\"\nWhat, then, did he lose by his physical blemish? He was forbidden to\ntread some of the higher walks of priestly service and worship.--\"Only\nhe shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar.\" These\nwere very serious privations; and though it may be objected that a man\ncould not help many of these physical defects, that did not alter the\nmatter. Jehovah could not have a blemished priest at His altar, or a\nblemished sacrifice thereon. Both the priest and the sacrifice should\nbe perfect. \"No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the\npriest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by\nfire.\" (Chap. xxi. 22.) \"But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye\nnot offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you.\" (Chap. xxii. 20.)\n\nNow, we have both the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice in the\nPerson of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He having \"offered Himself\nwithout spot to God,\" passed into the heavens as our great\nHigh-Priest, where He ever liveth to make intercession for us. The\nepistle to the Hebrews dwells elaborately upon these two points. It\nthrows into vivid contrast the sacrifice and priesthood of the Mosaic\nsystem and the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Christ. In Him we have\ndivine perfectness, whether as the Victim or as the Priest. We have\nall that God could require, and all that man could need. His precious\nblood has put away all our sins, and His all-prevailing intercession\never maintains us in all the perfectness of the place into which His\nblood has introduced us. \"We are complete in Him\" (Col. ii.); and yet,\nso feeble and so faltering are we in ourselves; so full of failure and\ninfirmity; so prone to err and stumble in our onward way, that we\ncould not stand for a moment were it not that \"He ever liveth to make\nintercession for us.\" These things have been dwelt upon in the earlier\nchapters of this volume, and it is therefore needless to enter further\nupon them here. Those who have any thing like correct apprehensions of\nthe grand foundation-truths of Christianity, and any measure of\nexperience in the Christian life, will be able to understand how it is\nthat though \"complete in Him who is the head of all principality and\npower,\" they nevertheless need, while down here amid the infirmities,\nconflicts, and buffetings of earth, the powerful advocacy of their\nadorable and divine High-Priest. The believer is \"washed, sanctified,\nand justified\" (1 Cor. vi.); he is \"accepted in the Beloved\" (Eph. i.\n6.); he can never come into judgment, as regards his person (See John\nv. 24, where the word is \u03ba\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd and not \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03ba\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd.); death and\njudgment are behind him, because he is united to Christ, who has\npassed through them both on his behalf and in his stead. All these\nthings are divinely true of the very weakest, most unlettered, and\ninexperienced member of the family of God; but yet, inasmuch as he\ncarries about with him a nature so incorrigibly bad and so\nirremediably ruined that no discipline can correct it and no medicine\ncure it, inasmuch as he is the tenant of a body of sin and death--as\nhe is surrounded on all sides by hostile influences--as he is called\nto cope perpetually with the combined forces of the world, the flesh,\nand the devil, he could never keep his ground, much less make\nprogress, were he not upheld by the all-prevailing intercession of his\ngreat High-Priest, who bears the names of His people upon His breast\nand upon His shoulder.\n\nSome, I am aware, have found great difficulty in reconciling the idea\nof the believer's perfect standing in Christ with the need of\npriesthood. \"If,\" it is argued, \"he is perfect, what need has he of a\npriest?\" The two things are as distinctly taught in the Word as they\nare compatible one with another, and understood in the experience of\nevery rightly instructed Christian. It is of the very last importance\nto apprehend, with clearness and accuracy, the perfect harmony between\nthese two points. The believer is perfect in Christ; but in himself,\nhe is a poor feeble creature, ever liable to fall. Hence the\nunspeakable blessedness of having One who can manage all his affairs\nfor him, at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens--One who\nupholds him continually by the right hand of His righteousness--One\nwho will never let him go--One who is able to save to the\nuttermost--One who is \"the same yesterday, to-day, and forever\"--One\nwho will bear him triumphantly through all the difficulties and\ndangers which surround him, and finally \"present him faultless before\nthe presence of His glory with exceeding joy.\" Blessed forever be the\ngrace that has made such ample provision for all our need in the\nblood of a Spotless Victim and the intercession of a divine\nHigh-Priest!\n\nDear Christian reader, let it be our care so to walk, so to \"keep\nourselves unspotted from the world,\" so to stand apart from all\nunhallowed associations, that we may enjoy the highest privileges and\ndischarge the most elevated functions of our position as members of\nthe priestly house of which Christ is the Head. We have \"boldness to\nenter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus:\" \"we have a great\nHigh-Priest over the house of God.\" (Heb. x.) Nothing can ever rob us\nof these privileges. But then our communion may be marred, our worship\nmay be hindered, our holy functions may remain undischarged. Those\nceremonial matters against which the sons of Aaron were warned in the\nsection before us, have their antitypes in the Christian economy. Had\nthey to be warned against unholy contact? So have we. Had they to be\nwarned against unholy alliance? So have we. Had they to be warned\nagainst all manner of ceremonial uncleanness? So have we to be warned\nagainst \"all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.\" (1 Cor. vii.) Were\nthey shorn of many of their loftiest priestly privileges by bodily\nblemish and imperfect natural growth? So are we by moral blemish and\nimperfect spiritual growth.\n\nWill any one venture to call in question the practical importance of\nsuch principles as these? Is it not obvious that the more highly we\nestimate the blessings which attach to that priestly house of which\nwe have been constituted members, in virtue of our spiritual birth,\nthe more carefully shall we guard against every thing which might tend\nin any wise to rob us of their enjoyment? Undoubtedly. And this it is\nwhich renders the close study of our section so pre-eminently\npractical. May we feel its power, through the application of God the\nHoly Ghost. Then shall we _enjoy_ our priestly place; then shall we\nfaithfully discharge our priestly functions. We shall be able \"to\npresent our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God\"\n(Rom. xii. 1); we shall be able to \"offer the sacrifice of praise to\nGod continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His\nname\" (Heb. xiii. 15.); we shall be able, as members of the \"spiritual\nhouse\" and the \"holy priesthood,\" to \"offer up spiritual sacrifices,\nacceptable to God by Jesus Christ\" (1 Pet. ii. 5.); we shall be able,\nin some small degree, to anticipate that blissful time when, from a\nredeemed creation, the halleluiahs of intelligent and fervent praise\nshall ascend to the throne of God and the Lamb throughout the\neverlasting ages.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n\nOne of the most profound and comprehensive chapters in the inspired\nvolume now lies before us, and claims our prayerful study. It contains\nthe record of the seven great feasts or periodical solemnities into\nwhich Israel's year was divided. In other words, it furnishes us with\na perfect view of God's dealings with Israel during the entire period\nof their most eventful history.\n\nLooking at the feasts separately, we have the Sabbath, the Passover,\nthe feast of unleavened bread, the first-fruits, Pentecost, the feast\nof trumpets, the day of atonement, and the feast of tabernacles. This\nwould make eight, altogether; but it is very obvious that the Sabbath\noccupies quite a unique and independent place. It is first presented,\nand its proper characteristics and attendant circumstances fully set\nforth; and then we read, \"These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy\nconvocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.\" (Ver. 4.)\n\nSo that, strictly speaking, as the attentive reader will observe,\nIsrael's _first_ great feast was the Passover, and their _seventh_ was\nthe feast of tabernacles. That is to say, divesting them of their\ntypical dress, we have, first, redemption; and last of all, we have\nthe millennial glory. The paschal lamb typified the death of Christ (1\nCor. v. 7.); and the feast of tabernacles typified \"the times of the\nrestitution of all things, of which God hath spoken by the mouth of\nall His holy prophets since the world began.\" (Acts iii. 21.)\n\nSuch was the opening and such the closing feast of the Jewish year.\nAtonement is the foundation, glory the top-stone; while between these\ntwo points we have the resurrection of Christ (ver. 10-14.), the\ngathering of the Church (ver. 15-21.), the waking up of Israel to a\nsense of their long-lost glory (ver. 24-25.), their repentance and\nhearty reception of their Messiah (ver. 27-32.), and, that not one\nfeature might be lacking in this grand typical representation, we have\nprovision made for the Gentiles to come in at the close of the harvest\nand glean in Israel's fields (ver. 22.). All this renders the picture\ndivinely perfect, and evokes from the heart of every lover of\nScripture the most intense admiration. What could be more complete?\nThe blood of the Lamb, and practical holiness founded thereon; the\nresurrection of Christ from the dead, and His ascension into heaven;\nthe descent of the Holy Ghost, in pentecostal power, to form the\nChurch; the awakening of the remnant; their repentance and\nrestoration; the blessing of \"the poor and the stranger;\" the\nmanifestation of the glory; the rest and blessedness of the\nkingdom,--such are the contents of this truly marvelous chapter, which\nwe shall now proceed to examine in detail. May God the Holy Ghost be\nour Teacher.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of\nIsrael, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye\nshall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts. Six\ndays shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a\nholy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of\nthe Lord in all your dwellings.'\" The place which the Sabbath here\ngets is full of interest. The Lord is about to furnish a type of all\nHis dealings in grace with His people; and ere He does so, He sets\nforth the Sabbath as the significant expression of that rest which\nremaineth for the people of God. It was an actual solemnity to be\nobserved by Israel, but it was also a type of what is yet to be when\nall that great and glorious work which this chapter foreshadows shall\nhave been accomplished. It is God's rest, into which all who believe\ncan enter now in spirit; but which, as to its full and actual\naccomplishment, yet remains. (Heb. iv.) We work now: we shall rest by\nand by. In one sense, the believer enters into rest; in another sense,\nhe labors to enter into it. He has found his rest in Christ; he labors\nto enter into his rest in glory. He has found his full mental repose\nin what Christ has wrought for him, and his eye rests on that\neverlasting Sabbath upon which he shall enter when all his desert\ntoils and conflicts are over. He cannot rest in the midst of a scene\nof sin and wretchedness; \"he rests in Christ, the Son of God, who took\nthe servant's form;\" and while thus resting, he is called to labor as\na worker together with God, in the full assurance that when all his\ntoil is over, he shall enjoy unbroken, eternal repose in those\nmansions of unfading light and unalloyed blessedness where labor and\nsorrow can never enter. Blessed prospect! May it brighten more and\nmore each hour in the vision of faith. May we labor all the more\nearnestly and faithfully, as being sure of this most precious rest at\nthe end. True, there are foretastes of the eternal Sabbath; but these\nforetastes only cause us to long more ardently for the blessed\nreality--that Sabbath which shall never be broken--that \"holy\nconvocation\" which shall never be dissolved.\n\nWe have already remarked that the Sabbath occupies quite a unique and\nindependent place in this chapter. This is evident from the wording of\nthe fourth verse, where the Lord seems to begin afresh with the\nexpression, \"These are the feasts of the Lord,\" as if to leave the\nSabbath quite distinct from the seven feasts which follow, though it\nbe, in reality, the type of that rest to which those feasts so\nblessedly introduce the soul.\n\n\"These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye\nshall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first\nmonth at even is the Lord's passover.\" (Ver. 4, 5.) Here, then, we\nhave the first of the seven periodical solemnities--the offering of\nthat paschal lamb whose blood it was that screened the Israel of God\nfrom the sword of the destroying angel on that terrible night when\nEgypt's first-born were laid low. This is the acknowledged type of the\ndeath of Christ, and hence its place in this chapter is divinely\nappropriate. It forms the foundation of all. We can know nothing of\nrest, nothing of holiness, nothing of fellowship, save on the ground\nof the death of Christ. It is peculiarly striking, significant, and\nbeautiful to observe that, directly God's rest is spoken of, the next\nthing introduced is the blood of the paschal lamb. As much as to say,\nThere is the _rest_, but here is your _title_. No doubt labor will\n_capacitate_ us, but it is the blood that _entitles_ us, to enjoy the\nrest.\n\n\"And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened\nbread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the\nfirst day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile\nwork therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the\nLord seven days: in the seventh day is a holy convocation: ye shall do\nno servile work therein.\" (Ver. 6-8.) The people are here assembled\naround Jehovah in that practical holiness which is founded upon\naccomplished redemption; and while thus assembled, the fragrant odor\nof the sacrifice ascends from the altar of Israel to the throne of\nIsrael's God. This gives us a fine view of that holiness which God\nlooks for in the life of His redeemed. It is based upon the sacrifice,\nand it ascends in immediate connection with the acceptable fragrance\nof the Person of Christ. \"Ye shall do no _servile work_ therein; but\nye shall offer _an offering made by fire_.\" What a contrast!--the\nservile work of man's hands, and the sweet savor of Christ's\nsacrifice! The practical holiness of God's people is not servile\nlabor; it is the living unfolding of Christ through them, by the power\nof the Holy Ghost. \"To me to live is Christ.\" This is the true idea.\nChrist is our life; and every exhibition of that life is, in the\ndivine judgment, redolent with all the fragrance of Christ. It may be\na very trifling matter in man's judgment, but, in so far as it is the\noutflow of Christ our life, it is unspeakably precious to God. It\nascends to Him and can never be forgotten. \"The fruits of\nrighteousness which are by Jesus Christ\" are produced in the life of\nthe believer, and no power of earth or hell can prevent their\nfragrance ascending to the throne of God.\n\nIt is needful to ponder deeply the contrast between \"servile work\" and\nthe outflow of the life of Christ. The type is very vivid. There was a\ntotal cessation of manual labor throughout the whole assembly; but the\nsweet savor of the burnt-offering ascended to God. These were to be\nthe two grand characteristics of the feast of unleavened bread. Man's\nlabor ceased, and the odor of the sacrifice ascended; and this was the\ntype of a believer's life of practical holiness. What a triumphant\nanswer is here to the legalist on the one side, and the antinomian on\nthe other! The former is silenced by the words, \"no servile work;\" and\nthe latter is confounded by the words, \"Ye shall offer an offering\nmade by fire.\" The most elaborate works of man's hands are \"servile;\"\nbut the smallest cluster of \"the fruits of righteousness\" is to the\nglory and praise of God. Throughout the entire period of the\nbeliever's life there must be no servile work--nothing of the hateful\nand degrading element of legality. There should be only the continual\npresentation of the life of Christ, wrought out and exhibited by the\npower of the Holy Ghost. Throughout the \"seven days\" of Israel's\nsecond great periodical solemnity there was to be \"no leaven;\" but\ninstead thereof, the sweet savor of \"an offering made by fire\" was to\nbe presented to the Lord. May we fully enter into the practical\nteaching of this most striking and instructive type.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of\nIsrael, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give\nunto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a\nsheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest; and ye\nshall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the\nmorrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer\nthat day when ye wave the sheaf, a he lamb without blemish of the\nfirst year, for a burnt-offering unto the Lord. And the meat-offering\nthereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an\noffering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor: and the\ndrink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. And\nye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until\nthe self-same day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it\nshall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your\ndwellings.\" (Ver. 9-14.)\n\n\"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the _first-fruits_\nof them that slept.\" (1 Cor. xv. 20.) The beautiful ordinance of the\npresentation of the sheaf of first-fruits typified the resurrection of\nChrist, who, \"at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward\nthe first day of the week,\" rose triumphant from the tomb, having\naccomplished the glorious work of redemption. His was a \"resurrection\n_from among_ the dead;\" and in it we have at once the earnest and the\ntype of the resurrection of His people. \"Christ the first-fruits;\nafterwards they that are Christ's at His coming.\" When Christ comes,\nHis people will be raised \"from among the dead [\u03b5\u03ba \u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd],\" that is,\nthose of them that sleep in Jesus; \"but the rest of the dead lived not\nagain until the thousand years were finished.\" (Rev. xx. 5.) When,\nimmediately after the transfiguration, our blessed Lord spoke of His\nrising \"_from among the dead_,\" the disciples questioned among\nthemselves what that could mean. (See Mark ix.) Every orthodox Jew\nbelieved in the doctrine of the \"resurrection of the dead [\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2\n\u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd],\" but the idea of a \"resurrection from among the dead\n[\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03ba \u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd]\" was what the disciples were unable to\ngrasp; and no doubt many disciples since then have felt considerable\ndifficulty with respect to a mystery so profound.\n\nHowever, if my reader will prayerfully study and compare 1 Cor. xv.\nwith 1 Thess. iv. 13-18, he will get much precious instruction upon\nthis most interesting and practical truth. He can also look at Romans\nviii. 11 in connection.--\"But if the Spirit of Him that raised up\nJesus from the dead [\u03b5\u03ba \u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd] dwell in you, He that raised up Christ\nfrom the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that\ndwelleth in you.\" From all these passages it will be seen that the\nresurrection of the Church will be upon precisely the same principle\nas the resurrection of Christ. Both the Head and the body are shown\nto be raised \"from among the dead.\" The first sheaf and all the\nsheaves that follow after are morally connected.\n\nIt must be evident to any one who carefully ponders the subject in the\nlight of Scripture, that there is a very material difference between\nthe resurrection of the believer and the resurrection of the\nunbeliever. Both shall be raised; but Revelation xx. 5 proves that\nthere will be a thousand years between the two, so that they differ\nboth as to the principle and as to the time. Some have found\ndifficulty in reference to this subject, from the fact that in John v.\n28 our Lord speaks of \"the _hour_ in the which _all_ that are in the\ngraves shall hear His voice.\" How, it may be asked, can there be a\nthousand years between the two resurrections, when both are spoken of\nas occurring in an \"hour\"? The answer is very simple. In verse 28, the\nquickening of dead souls is spoken of as occurring in an \"hour;\" and\nthis work has been going on for over eighteen hundred years. Now, if a\nperiod of nearly _two_ thousand years can be represented by the word\n\"hour,\" what objection can there be to the idea of _one_ thousand\nyears being represented in the same way? Surely, none whatever,\nespecially when it is expressly stated that \"the rest of the dead\nlived not again until the thousand years were finished.\"\n\nBut furthermore, when we find mention made of \"a _first_\nresurrection,\" is it not evident that all are not to be raised\ntogether? Why speak of a \"first\" if there is but the one? It may be\nsaid that \"the first resurrection\" refers to the soul; but where is\nthe Scripture warrant for such a statement? The solemn fact is this:\nwhen the \"shout of the archangel and the trump of God\" shall be heard,\nthe redeemed who sleep in Jesus will be raised to meet Him in the\nglory; the wicked dead, whoever they be, from the days of Cain down,\nwill remain in their graves during the thousand years of millennial\nblessedness, and at the close of that bright and blissful period, they\nshall come forth and stand before \"the great white throne,\" there to\nbe \"judged every man according to his works,\" and to pass from the\nthrone of judgment into the lake of fire. Appalling thought!\n\nOh, reader, how is it in reference to your precious soul? Have you\nseen, by the eye of faith, the blood of the paschal Lamb shed to\nscreen you from this terrible hour? Have you seen the precious Sheaf\nof first-fruits reaped and gathered into the heavenly garner, as the\nearnest of your being gathered in due time? These are solemn\nquestions--deeply solemn. Do not put them aside. See that you are\n_now_ under the cover of the blood of Jesus. Remember, you cannot\nglean so much as a single ear in the fields of redemption until you\nhave seen the true Sheaf waved before the Lord. \"Ye shall eat neither\nbread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until _the self-same day_\nthat ye have brought an offering unto your God.\" The harvest could not\nbe touched until the sheaf of first-fruits had been presented, and,\nwith the sheaf, a burnt-offering and a meat-offering.\n\n\"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from\nthe day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths\nshall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath\nshall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat-offering\nunto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves\nof two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken\nwith leaven; they are the first-fruits unto the Lord.\" (Ver. 15-17.)\nThis is the feast of Pentecost--the type of God's people, gathered by\nthe Holy Ghost, and presented before Him, in connection with all the\npreciousness of Christ. In the passover we have the death of Christ,\nin the sheaf of first-fruits we have the resurrection of Christ, and\nin the feast of Pentecost we have the descent of the Holy Ghost to\nform the Church. All this is divinely perfect. The death and\nresurrection of Christ had to be accomplished ere the Church could be\nformed. The sheaf was offered and then the loaves were baked.\n\nAnd, observe, \"they shall be baken _with leaven_.\" Why was this?\nBecause they were intended to foreshadow those who, though filled with\nthe Holy Ghost, and adorned with His gifts and graces, had,\nnevertheless, _evil_ dwelling in them. The assembly, on the day of\nPentecost, stood in the full value of the blood of Christ, was crowned\nwith the gifts of the Holy Ghost; but there was leaven there also. No\npower of the Spirit could do away with the fact that there was evil\ndwelling in the people of God. It might be suppressed and kept out of\nview, but it was there. This fact is foreshadowed in the type by the\nleaven in the two loaves, and it is set forth in the actual history of\nthe Church; for albeit God the Holy Ghost was present in the assembly,\nthe flesh was there likewise to lie unto Him. Flesh is flesh, nor can\nit ever be made aught else than flesh. The Holy Ghost did not come\ndown on the day of Pentecost to improve nature or do away with the\nfact of its incurable evil, but to baptize believers into one body,\nand connect them with their living Head in heaven.\n\nAllusion has already been made, in the chapter on the peace-offering,\nto the fact that leaven was permitted in connection therewith. It was\nthe divine recognition of the evil in the worshiper. Thus is it also\nin the ordinance of the \"two wave-loaves;\" they were to be \"baken with\n_leaven_,\" because of the _evil_ in the antitype.\n\nBut, blessed be God, the evil which was divinely recognized was\ndivinely provided for. This gives great rest and comfort to the heart.\nIt is a comfort to be assured that God knows the worst of us; and,\nmoreover, that He has made provision according to _His_ knowledge, and\nnot merely according to _ours_. \"And ye shall offer _with the bread_\nseven lambs _without blemish_ of the first year, and one young\nbullock, and two rams; they shall be for a burnt-offering unto the\nLord, with their meat-offering and their drink-offerings, even an\noffering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord.\" (Ver. 18.) Here,\nthen, we have, in immediate connection with the leavened loaves, the\npresentation of an unblemished sacrifice, typifying the great and\nall-important truth that it is Christ's perfectness, and not our\nsinfulness, that is ever before the view of God. Observe particularly\nthe words, \"ye shall offer _with the bread_ seven lambs _without\nblemish_.\" Precious truth!--deeply precious, though clothed in typic\ndress! May the reader be enabled to enter into it, to make his own of\nit, to stay his conscience upon it, to feed and refresh his heart with\nit, to delight his whole soul in it. Not I, but Christ.\n\nIt may, however, be objected that the fact of Christ's being a\nspotless Lamb is not sufficient to roll the burden of guilt from a\nsin-stained conscience--a sweet-savor offering would not, of itself,\navail for a guilty sinner. This objection might be urged, but our type\nfully meets and entirely removes it. It is quite true that a\nburnt-offering would not have been sufficient where \"leaven\" was in\nquestion; and hence we read, \"Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the\ngoats for a _sin-offering_, and two lambs of the first year for a\nsacrifice of peace-offerings.\" (Ver. 19.) The \"sin-offering\" was the\nanswer to the \"leaven\" in the loaves: \"peace\" was established, so that\ncommunion could be enjoyed, and all went up in immediate connection\nwith the \"sweet savor\" of the \"burnt-offering\" unto the Lord.\n\nThus, on the day of Pentecost, the Church was presented in all the\nvalue and excellency of Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost.\nThough having in itself the leaven of the old nature, that leaven was\nnot reckoned, because the divine Sin-offering had perfectly answered\nfor it. The power of the Holy Ghost did not remove the leaven, but the\nblood of the Lamb had atoned for it. This is a most interesting and\nimportant distinction. The work of the Spirit in the believer does not\nremove indwelling evil. It enables him to detect, judge, and subdue\nthe evil; but no amount of spiritual power can do away with the fact\nthat the evil is there--though, blessed be God, the conscience is at\nperfect ease, inasmuch as the blood of our Sin-offering has eternally\nsettled the whole question; and therefore, instead of our evil being\nunder the eye of God, it has been put out of sight forever, and we are\naccepted in all the acceptableness of Christ, who offered Himself to\nGod as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, that He might perfectly glorify Him\nin all things, and be the food of His people forever.\n\nThus much as to Pentecost--after which a long period is suffered to\nroll on ere we have any movement amongst the people. There is,\nhowever, the notice of \"the poor and stranger\" in that beautiful\nordinance which has already been referred to in its moral aspect. Here\nwe may look at it in a dispensational point of view. \"And when ye reap\nthe harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the\ncorners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any\ngleaning of thy harvest; thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to\nthe stranger: I am the Lord your God.\" (Ver. 22.) Provision is here\nmade for the stranger to glean in Israel's fields. The Gentile is to\nbe brought in to participate in the overflowing goodness of God. When\nIsrael's storehouse and wine-press have been fully furnished, there\nwill be precious sheaves and rich clusters for the Gentile to gather.\n\nWe are not, however, to suppose that the spiritual blessings with\nwhich the Church is endowed in the heavenlies with Christ are set\nforth under the figure of a stranger gleaning in Israel's fields.\nThese blessings are as new to the seed of Abraham as they are to the\nGentile. They are not the gleanings of Canaan, but the glories of\nheaven--the glories of Christ. The Church is not merely blessed _by_\nChrist, but _with_ and _in_ Christ. The bride of Christ will not be\nsent forth to gather up, as a stranger, the sheaves and clusters in\nthe corners of Israel's fields and from the branches of Israel's\nvines. No; she tastes of higher blessings, richer joys, nobler\ndignities, than aught that Israel ever knew. She is not to glean as a\nstranger on earth, but to enjoy her own wealthy and happy home in\nheaven, to which she belongs. This is the \"better thing\" which God\nhath, in His manifold wisdom and grace, \"reserved\" for her. No doubt\nit will be a gracious privilege for \"the stranger\" to be permitted to\nglean after Israel's harvest is reaped; but the Church's portion is\nincomparably higher, even to be the bride of Israel's King, the\npartner of His throne, the sharer of His joys, His dignities, and His\nglories; to be like Him and with Him forever. The eternal mansions of\nthe Father's house on high, and not the ungleaned corners of Israel's\nfields below, are to be the Church's portion. May we ever bear this in\nmind, and live, in some small degree, worthy of such a holy and\nelevated destination.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of\nIsrael, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month,\nshall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy\nconvocation. Ye shall do no servile work; but ye shall offer an\noffering made by fire unto the Lord.'\" (Ver. 23-25.) A new subject is\nintroduced here by the words, \"the Lord spake unto Moses,\" which, let\nme remark in passing, affords an interesting help in classifying the\nsubjects of the entire chapter. Thus, the Sabbath, the passover, and\nthe feast of unleavened bread are given under the first communication;\nthe wave-sheaf, the wave-loaves, and the ungleaned corners are given\nunder the second; after which we have a long unnoticed interval; and\nthen comes the soul-stirring feast of trumpets, on the first day of\nthe seventh month. This ordinance leads us on to the time, now fast\napproaching, when the remnant of Israel shall \"blow the trumpet\" for a\nmemorial, calling to remembrance their long-lost glory, and stirring\nup themselves to seek the Lord.\n\nThe feast of trumpets is intimately connected with another great\nsolemnity, namely, \"the day of atonement.\" \"_Also_ on the tenth day of\nthis seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a\nholy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer\nan offering make by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in\nthat same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for\nyou before the Lord your God.... It shall be unto you a Sabbath of\nrest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month\nat even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.\" (Ver.\n27-32.) Thus, after the blowing of the trumpets, an interval of eight\ndays elapses, and then we have the day of atonement, with which these\nthings are connected, namely, affliction of soul, atonement for sin,\nand rest from labor. All these things will find their due place in the\nexperience of the Jewish remnant by and by. \"The harvest is past, the\nsummer is ended, and we are not saved.\" (Jer. viii. 20.) Such will be\nthe pathetic lament of the remnant when the Spirit of God shall have\nbegun to touch their heart and conscience. \"And they shall look upon\nMe whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one\nmourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one\nthat is in bitterness for her first-born. In that day shall there be a\ngreat mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the\nvalley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart,\"\netc. (Zech. xii. 10-14.)\n\nWhat deep mourning, what intense affliction, what genuine penitence,\nthere will be, when, under the mighty action of the Holy Ghost, the\nconscience of the remnant shall recall the sins of the past--the\nneglect of the Sabbath, the breach of the law, the stoning of the\nprophets, the piercing of the Son, the resistance of the Spirit! All\nthese things will come in array on the tablets of an enlightened and\nexercised conscience, and produce keen affliction of soul.\n\nBut the blood of atonement will meet all. \"In that day there shall be\na fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of\nJerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.\" (Zech. xiii. 1.) They will be\nmade to feel their guilt and be afflicted, and they will also be led\nto see the efficacy of the blood, and find perfect peace--a Sabbath of\nrest unto their souls.\n\nNow, when such results shall have been reached in the experience of\nIsrael in the latter day, for what should we look? Surely, THE GLORY.\nWhen the \"blindness\" is removed and \"the vail\" taken away, when the\nheart of the remnant is turned to Jehovah, then shall the bright beams\nof the \"Sun of righteousness\" fall, in healing, restoring, and saving\npower, upon a truly penitent, afflicted, and poor people. To enter\nelaborately upon this subject would demand a volume in itself. The\nexercises, the experiences, the conflicts, the trials, the\ndifficulties, and the ultimate blessings of the Jewish remnant are\nfully detailed throughout the psalms and prophets. The existence of\nsuch a body must be clearly seen ere the psalms and prophets can be\nstudied with intelligence and satisfaction. Not but that we may learn\nmuch from those portions of inspiration, for \"all Scripture is\nprofitable;\" but the surest way to make a right use of any portion of\nthe Word of God, is to understand its primary application. If, then,\nwe apply scriptures to the Church, or heavenly body, which belong,\nstrictly speaking, to the Jewish remnant, or earthly body, we must be\ninvolved in serious error as to both the one and the other. In point\nof fact, it happens in many cases that the existence of such a body as\nthe remnant is completely ignored, and the true position and hope of\nthe Church are entirely lost sight of. These are grave errors, which\nmy reader should sedulously seek to avoid. Let him not suppose for a\nmoment that they are mere speculations, fitted only to engage the\nattention of the curious, and possessing no practical power whatever.\nThere could not be a more erroneous supposition. What! is it of no\npractical value to us to know whether we belong to earth or heaven? is\nit of no real moment to us to know whether we shall be at rest in the\nmansions above or passing through the apocalyptic judgments down here?\nWho could admit aught so unreasonable? The truth is, it would be\ndifficult to fix on any line of truth more practical than that which\nunfolds the distinctive destinies of the earthly remnant and the\nheavenly Church. I shall not pursue the subject further here; but the\nreader will find it well worthy of his calm and prayerful study. We\nshall close this section with a view of the feast of tabernacles--the\nlast solemnity of the Jewish year.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of\nIsrael, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the\nfeast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.... Also in the\nfifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit\nof the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the\nfirst day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth shall be a Sabbath.\nAnd ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees,\nbranches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the\nbrook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. And\nye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year: it\nshall be a statute forever in your generations; ye shall celebrate it\nin the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days: all that\nare Israelites born shall dwell in booths; that your generations may\nknow that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I\nbrought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.'\" (Ver.\n33-43.)\n\nThis feast points us forward to the time of Israel's glory in the\nlatter day, and therefore it forms a most lovely and appropriate close\nto the whole series of feasts. The harvest was gathered in, all was\ndone, the storehouses were amply furnished, and Jehovah would have His\npeople to give expression to their festive joy. But, alas! they seem\nto have had but little heart to enter into the divine thought in\nreference to this most delightful ordinance. They lost sight of the\nfact that they had been strangers and pilgrims, and hence their long\nneglect of this feast. From the days of Joshua down to the time of\nNehemiah, the feast of tabernacles had never once been celebrated. It\nwas reserved for the feeble remnant that returned from the Babylonish\ncaptivity to do what had not been done even in the bright days of\nSolomon. \"And all the congregation of them that were come again out of\nthe captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the\ndays of Joshua the son of Nun, unto that day, had not the children of\nIsrael done so. And there was very great gladness.\" (Neh. viii. 17.)\nHow refreshing it must have been to those who had hung their harps on\nthe willows of Babylon, to find themselves beneath the shade of the\nwillows of Canaan! It was a sweet foretaste of that time of which the\nfeast of tabernacles was the type, when Israel's restored tribes shall\nrepose within those millennial bowers which the faithful hand of\nJehovah will erect for them in the land which He sware to give unto\nAbraham and to his seed forever. Thrice-happy moment when the heavenly\nand the earthly shall meet as intimated in \"the first day\" and \"the\neighth day\" of the feast of tabernacles! \"The heavens shall hear the\nearth, and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil, and\nthey shall hear Jezreel.\"\n\nThere is a fine passage in the last chapter of Zechariah which goes to\nprove very distinctly that the true celebration of the feast of\ntabernacles belongs to the glory of the latter day.--\"And it shall\ncome to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came\nagainst Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the\nKing, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.\" (Chap.\nxiv. 16.) What a scene! Who would seek to rob it of its characteristic\nbeauty by a vague system of interpretation falsely called\nspiritualizing? Surely, Jerusalem means Jerusalem, nations mean\nnations, and the feast of tabernacles means the feast of tabernacles.\nIs there any thing incredible in this? Surely, nothing, save to man's\nreason, which rejects all that lies beyond its narrow range. The feast\nof tabernacles shall yet be celebrated in the land of Canaan, and the\nnations of the saved shall go up thither to participate in its\nglorious and hallowed festivities. Jerusalem's warfare shall then be\naccomplished; the roar of battle shall cease; the sword and the spear\nshall be transformed into the implements of peaceful agriculture;\nIsrael shall repose beneath the refreshing shade of their vines and\nfig-trees; and all the earth shall rejoice in the government of \"the\nPrince of Peace.\" Such is the prospect presented in the unerring pages\nof inspiration. The types foreshadow it, the prophets prophesy of it,\nfaith believes it, and hope anticipates it.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOTE.--At the close of our chapter we read, \"And Moses declared unto\nthe children of Israel _the feasts of the Lord_.\" This was their true\ncharacter, their original title; but in the gospel of John they are\ncalled \"_feasts of the Jews_.\" They had long ceased to be Jehovah's\nfeasts. He was shut out. They did not want Him; and hence, in John\nvii, when Jesus was asked to go up to \"_the Jews' feast of\ntabernacles_,\" He answered, \"My time is not yet come;\" and when He did\ngo up, it was \"privately,\" to take His place outside of the whole\nthing, and to call upon every thirsty soul to come unto Him and drink.\nThere is a solemn lesson in this. Divine institutions are speedily\nmarred in the hands of man; but, oh! how deeply blessed to know that\nthe thirsty soul that feels the barrenness and drought connected with\na scene of empty religious formality, has only to flee to Jesus and\ndrink freely of His exhaustless springs, and so become a channel of\nblessing to others.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n\nThere is very much to interest the spiritual mind in this brief\nsection. We have seen in chapter xxiii. the history of the dealings of\nGod with Israel, from the offering up of the true paschal Lamb, until\nthe rest and glory of the millennial kingdom. In the chapter now\nbefore us, we have two grand ideas, namely, first, the unfailing\nrecord and memorial of the twelve tribes, maintained before God by the\npower of the Spirit and the efficacy of Christ's priesthood; and\nsecondly, the apostacy of Israel after the flesh, and divine judgment\nexecuted thereon. It is the clear apprehension of the former that will\nenable us to contemplate the latter.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Command the children of\nIsrael, that they bring unto thee _pure_ oil olive, _beaten_ for the\nlight, to cause the lamps to burn _continually_. Without the vail of\nthe testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron\norder it _from the evening unto the morning_, before the Lord\n_continually;_ it shall be a statute forever in your generations. He\nshall order the lamps upon the _pure_ candlestick before the Lord\n_continually_.'\" (Ver. 1-4.) The \"pure oil\" represents the grace of\nthe Holy Spirit, founded upon the work of Christ, as exhibited by the\ncandlestick of \"beaten gold.\" The \"olive\" was _pressed_ to yield the\n\"oil,\" and the gold was \"_beaten_\" to form the candlestick. In other\nwords, the grace and light of the Spirit are founded upon the death of\nChrist, and maintained in clearness and power by the priesthood of\nChrist. The golden lamp diffused its light throughout the precincts of\nthe sanctuary during the dreary hours of night, when darkness brooded\nover the nation and all were wrapped in slumber. In all this we have a\nvivid presentation of God's faithfulness to His people whatever might\nbe their outward condition. Darkness and slumber might settle down\nupon them, but the lamp was to burn \"continually.\" The high-priest was\nresponsible to keep the steady light of testimony burning during the\ntedious hours of the night. \"Without the vail of the testimony, in the\ntabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening\nunto the morning, before the Lord continually.\" The maintenance of\nthis light was not left dependent upon Israel: God had provided one\nwhose office it was to look after it and order it continually.\n\nBut further, we read, \"And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve\ncakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt\nset them in two rows, six in a row, upon the _pure_ table before the\nLord. And thou shalt put _pure_ frankincense upon each row, that it\nmay be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto\nthe Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord\n_continually_, being taken from the children of Israel by an\neverlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they\nshall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the\nofferings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute.\" (Ver.\n5-9.) There is no mention of leaven in these loaves. They represent, I\ndoubt not, Christ in immediate connection with \"the twelve tribes of\nIsrael.\" They were laid up in the sanctuary before the Lord, on the\npure table, for seven days, after which they became the food of Aaron\nand his sons, furnishing another striking figure of Israel's condition\nin the view of Jehovah, whatever might be their outward aspect. The\ntwelve tribes are ever before Him. Their memorial can never perish.\nThey are ranged in divine order in the sanctuary, covered with the\nfragrant incense of Christ, and reflected from the pure table whereon\nthey rest beneath the bright beams of that golden lamp which shines\nwith undimmed lustre through the darkest hour of the nation's moral\nnight.\n\nNow, it is well to see that we are not sacrificing sound judgment or\ndivine truth on the altar of fancy, when we venture to interpret,\nafter such a fashion, the mystic furniture of the sanctuary. We are\ntaught in Hebrews ix. that all these things were \"the patterns of\nthings in the heavens;\" and again, in Hebrews x. 1, that they were \"a\nshadow of good things to come.\" We are therefore warranted in\nbelieving that there are \"things in the heavens\" answering to the\n\"patterns\"--that there is a substance answering to the \"shadow.\" In a\nword, we are warranted in believing that there is that \"in the\nheavens\" which answers to \"the seven lamps,\" \"the pure table,\" and the\n\"twelve loaves.\" This is not human imagination, but divine truth, on\nwhich faith has fed in all ages. What was the meaning of Elijah's\naltar of \"twelve stones\" on the top of Carmel? It was nothing else\nthan the expression of his faith in that truth of which the \"twelve\nloaves\" were \"the pattern\" or \"the shadow.\" He believed in the\nunbroken unity of the nation, maintained before God in the eternal\nstability of the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whatever\nmight be the external condition of the nation. Man might look in vain\nfor the manifested unity of the twelve tribes; but faith could always\nlook within the hallowed inclosure of the sanctuary, and there see the\ntwelve loaves, covered with pure frankincense, ranged in divine order\non the pure table; and even though all without were wrapped in\nmidnight's gloomy shades, yet could faith discern, by the light of\nthe _seven_ golden lamps, the same grand truth foreshadowed, namely,\nthe indissoluble unity of Israel's twelve tribes.\n\nThus it was then, and thus it is now. The night is dark and gloomy.\nThere is not, in all this lower world, so much as a single ray by\nwhich the human eye can trace the unity of Israel's tribes. They are\nscattered among the nations, and lost to man's vision; but their\nmemorial is before the Lord. Faith owns this, because it knows that\n\"all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus.\" It sees in\nthe upper sanctuary, by the Spirit's perfect light, the twelve tribes\nfaithfully memorialized. Hearken to the following noble accents of\nfaith: \"And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made\nof God unto our fathers: unto which promise our _twelve tribes_,\ninstantly serving God night and day [\u03bd\u03c5\u03ba\u03c4\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd], hope to\ncome.\" (Acts xxvi. 6, 7.) Now, if King Agrippa had asked Paul, Where\nare the twelve tribes? could he have shown them to him? No. But why\nnot? Was it because they were not to be seen? No; but because Agrippa\nhad not eyes to see them. The twelve tribes lay far beyond the range\nof Agrippa's vision. It needed the eye of faith and the gracious light\nof the Spirit of God to be able to discern the twelve loaves, ordered\nupon the pure table in the sanctuary of God. There they were, and Paul\nsaw them there, though the moment in which he gave utterance to his\nsublime conviction was as dark as it well could be. Faith is not\ngoverned by appearances. It takes its stand upon the lofty rock of\nGod's eternal Word, and, in all the calmness and certainty of that\nholy elevation, feeds upon the immutable word of Him who cannot lie.\nUnbelief may stupidly stare about and ask, Where are the twelve\ntribes? or how can they be found and restored? It is impossible to\ngive an answer. Not because there is no answer to be given, but\nbecause unbelief is utterly incapable of rising to the elevated point\nfrom which the answer can be seen. Faith is as sure that the memorial\nof the twelve tribes of Israel is before the eye of Israel's God, as\nit is that the twelve loaves were laid on the golden table every\nSabbath day. But who can convince the skeptic or the infidel of this?\nwho can secure credence for such a truth from those who are governed,\nin all things, by reason or sense, and know nothing of what it is to\nhope against hope? Faith finds divine certainties and eternal\nrealities in the midst of a scene where reason and sense can find\nnothing. Oh for a more profound faith! May we grasp, with more intense\nearnestness, every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord,\nand feed upon it in all the artless simplicity of a little child.\n\nWe shall now turn to the second point in our chapter, namely, the\napostacy of Israel after the flesh, and the divine judgment thereon.\n\n\"And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian,\nwent out among the children of Israel: and this son of an Israelitish\nwoman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp: and the\nIsraelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed.\nAnd they brought him unto Moses; ... and they put him in ward, that\nthe mind of the Lord might be showed them. And the Lord spake unto\nMoses, saying, 'Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and\nlet all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the\ncongregation stone him.'... And Moses spake to the children of Israel,\nthat they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and\nstone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the Lord\ncommanded Moses.\" (Ver. 10-23.)\n\nThe peculiar place assigned by the inspired penman to this narrative\nis striking and interesting. I have no doubt whatever but that it is\ndesigned to give us the opposite side of the picture presented in the\nopening verses of the chapter. Israel after the flesh has grievously\nfailed, and sinned against Jehovah; the name of the Lord has been\nblasphemed amongst the Gentiles; wrath has come upon the nation; the\njudgments of an offended God have fallen upon them; but the day is\ncoming when the dark and heavy cloud of judgment shall roll away, and\nthen shall the twelve tribes, in their unbroken unity, stand forth\nbefore all the nations as the amazing monument of Jehovah's\nfaithfulness and loving-kindness. \"And in that day thou shalt say, O\nLord, I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger\nis turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation;\nI will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength\nand my song, He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall\nye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye\nsay, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the\npeople, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for\nhe hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out\nand shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of\nIsrael in the midst of thee.\" (Isa. xii.) \"For I would not, brethren,\nthat ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in\nyour own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until\nthe fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be\nsaved: as it is written, 'There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer,\nand shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant\nunto them, when I shall take away their sins.' As concerning the\ngospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election,\nthey are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of\nGod are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed\nGod, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have\nthese also now not believed in your mercy, that they also may obtain\nmercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have\nmercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and\nknowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways\npast finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who\nhath been His counselor? or who hath first given to Him, and it shall\nbe recompensed to him again? For of Him and through Him and to Him are\nall things; to whom be glory forever. Amen.\" (Rom. xi. 25-36.)\n\nPassages might be multiplied to prove that though Israel is suffering\nthe divine judgment because of sin, yet \"the gifts and calling of God\nare without repentance\"--that though the blasphemer is being stoned\nwithout the camp, the twelve loaves are undisturbed within the\nsanctuary. \"The voices of the prophets\" declare, and the voices of\napostles re-echo the glorious truth that \"all Israel shall be saved;\"\nnot because they have not sinned, but because \"the gifts and calling\nof God are without repentance.\" Let Christians beware how they tamper\nwith \"the promises made unto the fathers.\" If these promises be\nexplained away or misapplied, it must necessarily weaken our moral\nsense of the divine integrity and accuracy of Scripture as a whole. If\none part may be explained away, so may another; if one passage may be\nvaguely interpreted, so may another; and thus it would come to pass\nthat we should be deprived of all that blessed certainty which\nconstitutes the foundation of our repose in reference to all that the\nLord hath spoken. But more of this as we dwell upon the remaining\nchapters of our book.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n\nThe intelligent reader will discern a strong moral link between this\nand the preceding chapter. In chapter xxiv, we learn that the house of\nIsrael is preserved for the land of Canaan; in chapter xxv, we learn\nthat the land of Canaan is preserved for the house of Israel. Taking\nboth together, we have the record of a truth which no power of earth\nor hell can obliterate--\"All Israel shall be saved,\" and \"the land\nshall not be sold forever.\" The former of these statements enunciates\na principle which has stood like a rock amid the ocean of conflicting\ninterpretations, while the latter declares a fact which many nations\nof the uncircumcised have sought in vain to ignore.\n\nThe reader will, I doubt not, observe the peculiar way in which our\nchapter opens.--\"And the Lord spake unto Moses _in Mount Sinai_.\" The\nprincipal part of the communications contained in the book of\nLeviticus is characterized by the fact of its emanating \"from the\ntabernacle of the congregation.\" This is easily accounted for. Those\ncommunications have special reference to the service, communion, and\nworship of the priests, or to the moral condition of the people, and\nhence they are issued, as might be expected, from \"the tabernacle of\nthe congregation,\" that grand centre of all that appertained in any\nway to priestly service. Here, however, the communication is made\nfrom quite a different point. \"The Lord spake unto Moses _in Mount\nSinai_.\" Now, we know that every expression in Scripture has its own\nspecial meaning, and we are justified in expecting a different line of\ncommunication from \"Mount Sinai\" from that which reaches us from \"the\ntabernacle of the congregation.\" And so it is. The chapter at which we\nhave now arrived treats of Jehovah's claims as Lord of all the earth.\nIt is not the worship and communion of a priestly house, or the\ninternal ordering of the nation; but the claims of God in government,\nHis right to give a certain portion of the earth to a certain people\nto hold as tenants under Him. In a word, it is not to Jehovah in \"the\ntabernacle\"--the place of _worship_; but Jehovah in \"Mount Sinai\"--the\nplace of _government_.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, 'Speak unto the\nchildren of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land\nwhich I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord.\nSix years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy\nvineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou\nshalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed; for\nit is a year of rest unto the land. And the Sabbath of the land shall\nbe meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and\nfor thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,\nand for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all\nthe increase thereof be meat.'\" (Ver. 1-7.)\n\nHere, then, we have the special feature of the Lord's land. He would\nhave it to enjoy a sabbatic year, and in that year there was to be the\nevidence of the rich profusion with which He would bless those who\nheld as tenants under Him. Happy, highly privileged tenantry! What an\nhonor to hold immediately under Jehovah! No rent! no taxes! no\nburdens! Well might it be said, \"Happy is the people that is in such a\ncase; yea, happy is the nation whose God is Jehovah.\" We know, alas!\nthat Israel failed to take full possession of that wealthy land of\nwhich Jehovah made them a present. He had given it _all_; He had given\nit _forever_. They took but _a part_, and that _for a time_. Still,\nthere it is. The property is there, though the tenants are ejected for\nthe present. \"The land shall not be sold _forever_: for _the land is\nMine_; for ye are strangers and sojourners _with Me_.\" What does this\nmean, but that Canaan belongs specially to Jehovah, and that He will\nhold it through the tribes of Israel? True, \"the earth is the Lord's,\"\nbut that is quite another thing. It is plain that He has been pleased,\nfor His own unsearchable purposes, to take special possession of the\nland of Canaan, and to submit that land to a peculiar line of\ntreatment, to mark it off from all other lands, by calling it His own,\nand to distinguish it by judgments and ordinances and periodical\nsolemnities, the mere contemplation of which enlightens the\nunderstanding and affects the heart. Where, throughout all the earth,\ndo we read of a land enjoying a year of unbroken repose--a year of\nrichest abundance? The rationalist may ask, How can these things be?\nthe skeptic may doubt if they could be; but faith finds a satisfying\nanswer from the lips of Jehovah--\"And if ye shall say, What shall we\neat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our\nincrease: then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year,\nand it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the\neighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her\nfruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.\" (Ver. 20-22.) Nature\nmight say, What shall we do for _our sowing_? God's answer is, \"I will\ncommand _My blessing_.\" God's \"blessing\" is better far than man's\n\"sowing.\" He was not going to let them starve in His sabbatic year.\nThey were to feed upon the fruits of His blessing, while they\ncelebrated His year of rest--a year which pointed forward to that\neternal Sabbath that remains for the people of God.\n\n\"And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times\nseven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be\nunto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of\nthe jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day\nof atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your\nland.\" (Ver. 8, 9.) It is peculiarly interesting to note the various\nmethods in which the millennial rest was held up to view in the Jewish\neconomy. Every seventh day was a sabbatic day; every seventh year was\na sabbatic year; and every seven times seven years there was a\njubilee. Each and all of these typical solemnities held up to the\nvision of faith the blessed prospect of a time when labor and sorrow\nshould cease; when \"the sweat of the brow\" would no longer be needed\nto satisfy the cravings of hunger; but when a millennial earth\nenriched by the copious showers of divine grace, and fertilized by the\nbright beams of the Sun of righteousness, should pour its abundance\ninto the storehouse and wine-press of the people of God. Happy time!\nhappy people! How blessed to be assured that these things are not the\npencilings of imagination or the flights of fancy, but the substantial\nverities of divine revelation, to be enjoyed by faith, which is \"the\nsubstance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.\"\n\nOf all the Jewish solemnities the jubilee would seem to have been the\nmost soul-stirring and enrapturing. It stood immediately connected\nwith the great day of atonement. It was when the blood of the victim\nwas shed that the emancipating sound of the jubilee trump was heard\nthrough the hills and valleys of the land of Canaan. That longed-for\nnote was designed to wake up the nation from the very centre of its\nmoral being--to stir the deepest depths of the soul, and to send a\nshining river of divine and ineffable joy through the length and\nbreadth of the land. \"In the day of atonement shall ye make the\ntrumpet sound throughout _all_ your land.\" Not a corner was to remain\nunvisited by \"the joyful sound.\" The aspect of the jubilee was as wide\nas the aspect of the atonement on which the jubilee was based.\n\n\"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty\nthroughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be\na jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession,\nand ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that\nfiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which\ngroweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine\nundressed. For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall\neat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of this jubilee\nye shall return every man unto his possession.\" (Ver. 8-13.) All\nestates and conditions of the people were permitted to feel the\nhallowed and refreshing influence of this most noble institution. The\nexile returned; the captive was emancipated; the debtor set free; each\nfamily opened its bosom to receive once more its long-lost members;\neach inheritance received back its exiled owner. The sound of the\ntrumpet was the welcome and soul-stirring signal for the captive to\nescape, for the slave to cast aside the chains of his bondage, for the\nman-slayer to return to his home, for the ruined and poverty-stricken\nto rise to the possession of their forfeited inheritance. No sooner\nhad the trumpet's thrice-welcome sound fallen upon the ear than the\nmighty tide of blessing rose majestically and sent its refreshing\nundulations into the most remote corners of Jehovah's highly favored\nland.\n\n\"And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy\nneighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: according to the\nnumber of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and\naccording unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto\nthee. According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the\nprice thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt\ndiminish the price of it; for according to the number of the years of\nthe fruits doth he sell unto thee. Ye shall not therefore oppress one\nanother; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God.\"\n(Ver. 14-17.) The year of jubilee reminded both buyer and seller that\nthe land belonged to Jehovah and was not to be sold. \"The fruits\"\nmight be sold, but that was all: Jehovah could never give up the land\nto any one. It is important to get this point well fixed in the mind;\nit may open up a very extensive line of truth. If the land of Canaan\nis not to be sold--if Jehovah declares it to be His forever, then for\nwhom does He want it? who is to hold under Him? Those to whom He gave\nit by an everlasting covenant, that they might have it in possession\nas long as the moon endureth--even to all generations.\n\nThere is no spot in all the earth like unto the land of Canaan in the\ndivine estimation. There Jehovah set up His throne and His sanctuary;\nthere His priests stood to minister continually before Him; there the\nvoices of His prophets were heard testifying of present ruin and\nfuture restoration and glory; there the Baptist began, continued, and\nended his career as the forerunner of the Messiah; there the blessed\nOne was born of a woman; there He was baptized; there He preached and\ntaught; there He labored and died; from thence He ascended in triumph\nto the right hand of God; thither God the Holy Ghost descended, in\nPentecostal power; from thence the overflowing tide of gospel\ntestimony emanated to the ends of the earth; thither the Lord of glory\nwill descend ere long, and plant His foot \"on the Mount of Olives;\"\nthere His throne will be re-established and His worship restored. In a\nword, His eyes and His heart are there continually; its dust is\nprecious in His sight; it is the centre of all His thoughts and\noperations as touching this earth; and it is His purpose to make it an\neternal excellency, the joy of many generations.\n\nIt is, then, I repeat, immensely important to get a firm hold of this\ninteresting line of truth with respect to the land of Canaan. Of that\nland Jehovah hath said, \"IT IS MINE.\" Who shall take it from Him?\nWhere is the king or the emperor--where the power, human or\ndiabolical, that can wrest \"the pleasant land\" out of Jehovah's\nomnipotent grasp? True, it has been a bone of contention, an apple of\ndiscord, to the nations. It has been, and it will yet be, the scene\nand centre of cruel war and bloodshed. But far above all the din of\nbattle and the strife of nations, these words fall with divine\nclearness, fullness, and power upon the ear of faith: \"_The land is\nMine!_\" Jehovah can never give up that land, nor those \"twelve\ntribes\" through whom He is to inherit it forever. Let my reader think\nof this; let him ponder it deeply; let him guard against all looseness\nof thought and vagueness of interpretation as to this subject. God\nhath not cast away His people, or the land which He sware to give unto\nthem for an everlasting possession. \"The twelve loaves\" of Leviticus\nxxiv. bear witness to the former, and \"the jubilee\" of Leviticus xxv.\nbears witness to the latter. The memorial of the \"twelve tribes of\nIsrael\" is ever before the Lord, and the moment is rapidly approaching\nwhen the trump of jubilee shall be heard upon the mountains of\nPalestine. Then, in reality, the captive shall cast off the\nignominious chain which for ages has bound him; then shall the exile\nreturn to that happy home from which he has so long been banished;\nthen shall every debt be canceled, every burden removed, and every\ntear wiped away. \"For thus saith the Lord, 'Behold, I will extend\npeace to her [Jerusalem] like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles\nlike a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her\nsides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother\ncomforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in\nJerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your\nbones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be\nknown toward His servants, and His indignation toward His enemies.\nFor, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like\na whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with\nflames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with\nall flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.... For I know\ntheir works and their thoughts; it shall come that I will gather all\nnations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. And I will\nset a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto\nthe nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal\nand Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither\nhave seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the\nGentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto\nthe Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in\nlitters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain\nJerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering\nin a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of\nthem for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new\nheavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me,\nsaith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall\ncome to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath\nto another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the\nLord.'\" (Isaiah lxvi. 12-23.)\n\nAnd now let us look for a moment at the practical effect of the\njubilee--its influence upon the transactions between man and\nman.--\"And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of\nthy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another. According to\nthe number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor,\nand according to the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto\nthee.\" The scale of prices was to be regulated by the jubilee. If that\nglorious event were at hand, the price was low; if far off, the price\nwas high. All human compacts as to land were broken up the moment the\ntrump of jubilee was heard, for the land was Jehovah's; and the\njubilee brought all back to its normal condition.\n\nThis teaches us a fine lesson. If our hearts are cherishing the\nabiding hope of the Lord's return, we shall set light by all earthly\nthings. It is morally impossible that we can be in the attitude of\nwaiting for the Son from heaven, and not be detached from this present\nworld. \"Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at\nhand.\" (Phil. iv.) A person may hold \"the doctrine of the millennium,\"\nas it is called, or the doctrine of \"the second advent,\" and be a\nthorough man of the world; but one who lives in the habitual\nexpectation of Christ's appearing must be separated from that which\nwill be judged and broken up when He comes. It is not a question of\nthe shortness and uncertainty of human life, which is quite true; or\nof the transitory and unsatisfying character of the things of time,\nwhich is equally true. It is far more potent and influential than\neither or both of these,--it is this: \"_The Lord is at hand._\" May our\nhearts be affected and our conduct in all things influenced by this\nmost precious and sanctifying truth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n\nThis chapter requires little in the way of note or exposition. It\ncontains a most solemn and affecting record of the blessings of\nobedience on the one hand, and the terrible consequences of\ndisobedience on the other. Had Israel walked in obedience, they would\nhave been invincible. \"I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie\ndown, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out\nof the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye\nshall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.\nAnd five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put\nten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the\nsword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and\nmultiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And ye shall eat old\nstore, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set My\ntabernacle among you; and My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk\namong you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. I am the\nLord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that\nye should not be their bondsmen; and I have broken the bands of your\nyoke, and made you go upright.\" (Ver. 6-13.)\n\nThe presence of God should ever have been their shield and buckler. No\nweapon formed against them could prosper. But then the divine\npresence was only to be enjoyed by an obedient people. Jehovah could\nnot sanction by His presence disobedience or wickedness. The\nuncircumcised nations around might depend upon their prowess and their\nmilitary resources: Israel had only the arm of Jehovah to depend upon,\nand that arm could never be stretched forth to shield unholiness or\ndisobedience. Their strength was, to walk with God in a spirit of\ndependence and obedience. So long as they walked thus, there was a\nwall of fire round about them, to protect them from every enemy and\nevery evil.\n\nBut, alas! Israel failed altogether. Notwithstanding the solemn and\nappalling picture placed before their eyes, in verses 14-33 of this\nchapter, they forsook the Lord and served other gods, and thus brought\nupon themselves the sore judgments threatened in this section, the\nbare record of which is sufficient to make the ears tingle. Under the\nheavy weight of these judgments they are suffering at this very hour.\nScattered and peeled, wasted and outcast, they are the monuments of\nJehovah's inflexible truth and justice. They read aloud, to all the\nnations of the earth, a most impressive lesson on the subject of the\nmoral government of God--a lesson which it would be profitable for\nthese nations to study deeply--yea, and a lesson which it would be\nsalutary for our own hearts to ponder likewise.\n\nWe are very prone to confound two things which are clearly\ndistinguished in the Word, namely, God's _government_ and God's\n_grace_. The evils which result from this confusion are various. It is\nsure to lead to an enfeebled sense of the dignity and solemnity of\ngovernment, and of the purity, fullness, and elevation of grace. It is\nquite true that God in government reserves to Himself the sovereign\nright to act in patience, long-suffering, and mercy; but the exercise\nof these attributes, in connection with His throne of government, must\nnever be confounded with the unconditional actings of pure and\nabsolute grace.\n\nThe chapter before us is a record of divine government, and yet, in it\nwe find such clauses as the following: \"If they shall confess their\niniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which\nthey trespassed against Me; and that also they have walked contrary\nunto Me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have\nbrought them into the land of their enemies; if then their\nuncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the\npunishment of their iniquity: then will I remember My covenant with\nJacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with\nAbraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also\nshall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth\ndesolate without them; and they shall accept of the punishment of\ntheir iniquity: because, even because they despised My judgments, and\nbecause their soul abhorred My statutes. And yet, for all that, when\nthey be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away,\nneither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My\ncovenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their\nsakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth\nout of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be\ntheir God: I am the Lord.\" (Ver. 40-45.)\n\nHere we find God in government, meeting, in long-suffering mercy, the\nvery earliest and faintest breathings of a broken and penitent spirit.\nThe history of the judges and of the kings presents many instances of\nthe exercise of this blessed attribute of the divine government. Again\nand again the soul of Jehovah was grieved for Israel (Judges x. 16.),\nand He sent them one deliverer after another, until at length there\nremained no hope, and the righteous claims of His throne demanded\ntheir expulsion from that land which they were wholly incompetent to\nkeep.\n\nAll this is _government_. But by and by, Israel will be brought into\npossession of the land of Canaan on the ground of unqualified and\nunchangeable _grace_--grace exercised in divine righteousness, through\nthe blood of the cross. It will not be by works of law, nor yet by the\ninstitutions of an evanescent economy, but by that grace which \"reigns\nthrough righteousness, by Jesus Christ our Lord.\" Wherefore, they\nshall never again be driven forth from their possession. No enemy\nshall ever molest them. They shall enjoy undisturbed repose behind the\nshield of Jehovah's favor. Their tenure of the land will be according\nto the eternal stability of divine grace and the efficacy of the blood\nof the everlasting covenant. \"They shall be saved in the Lord with an\neverlasting salvation.\"\n\nMay the Spirit of God lead us into more enlarged apprehensions of\ndivine truth, and endow us with a greater capacity to try the things\nthat differ, and rightly to divide the word of truth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n\nThis closing section of our book treats of the \"singular vow,\" or the\nvoluntary act whereby a person devoted himself or his property unto\nthe Lord. \"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the\nchildren of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a\nsingular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. And\nthy estimation shall be ... after the shekel of the sanctuary.'\"\n\nNow, in the case of a person devoting himself or his beast, his house\nor his field, unto the Lord, it was obviously a question of capacity\nor worth; and hence there was a certain scale of valuation, according\nto age. Moses, as the representative of the claims of God, was called\nupon to estimate, in each case, according to the standard of the\nsanctuary. If a man undertakes to make a vow, he must be tried by the\nstandard of righteousness; and, moreover, in all cases, we are called\nupon to recognize the difference between _capacity_ and _title_. In\nExodus xxx. 15, we read, in reference to the atonement money, \"The\nrich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than half\na shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an\natonement for your souls.\" In the matter of atonement, all stood upon\none common level. Thus it must ever be. High and low, rich and poor,\nlearned and ignorant, old and young--all have one common title. \"There\nis no difference.\" All stand alike on the ground of the infinite\npreciousness of the blood of Christ. There may be a vast difference as\nto capacity; as to title, there is none: there may be a vast\ndifference as to experience; as to title, there is none: there may be\na vast difference as to knowledge, gift, and fruitfulness; as to\ntitle, there is none. The sapling and the tree, the babe and the\nfather, the convert of yesterday and the matured believer, are all on\nthe same ground. \"The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not\ngive less.\" Nothing more could be given; nothing less could be taken.\n\"We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.\"\nThis is our title to enter. Our capacity to worship, when we have\nentered, will depend upon our spiritual energy. Christ is our title:\nthe Holy Ghost is our capacity. Self has nothing to do with either the\none or the other. What a mercy! We get in by the blood of Jesus; we\nenjoy what we find there by the Holy Ghost. The blood of Jesus opens\nthe door; the Holy Ghost conducts us through the house: the blood of\nJesus opens the casket; the Holy Ghost unfolds the precious contents:\nthe blood of Jesus makes the casket ours; the Holy Ghost enables us to\nappreciate its rare and costly gems.\n\nBut in Leviticus xxvii, it is entirely a question of ability,\ncapacity, or worth. Moses had a certain standard, from which he could\nnot possibly descend; he had a certain rule, from which he could not\npossibly swerve. If any one could come up to that, well; if not, he\nhad to take his place accordingly.\n\nWhat, then, was to be done in reference to the person who was unable\nto rise to the height of the claims set forth by the representative of\ndivine righteousness? Hear the consolatory answer--\"But if he be\n_poorer_ than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before\n_the priest_, and the priest shall value him; _according to his\nability_ that vowed shall the priest value him.\" (Ver. 8.) In other\nwords, if it be a question of man's undertaking to meet the claims of\n_righteousness_, then he must meet them; but if, on the other hand, a\nman feels himself wholly unable to meet those claims, he has only to\nfall back upon _grace_, which will take him up just as he is. Moses is\nthe representative of the claims of divine righteousness: the priest\nis the exponent of the provisions of divine grace. The poor man who\nwas unable to stand before Moses, fell back into the arms of the\npriest. Thus it is ever. If we cannot \"_dig_,\" we can \"_beg_;\" and\ndirectly we take the place of a beggar, it is no longer a question of\nwhat we are able to _earn_, but of what God is pleased to _give_.\n\n \"Grace all the work shall crown\n Through everlasting days.\"\n\nHow happy it is to be debtors to grace! how happy to take, when God is\nglorified in giving! When man is in question, it is infinitely better\nto dig than to beg; but when God is in question, the case is the very\nreverse.\n\nI would just add that I believe this entire chapter bears, in an\nespecial manner, upon the nation of Israel. It is intimately connected\nwith the two preceding chapters. Israel made \"a singular vow\" at the\nfoot of Mount Horeb; but they were quite unable to meet the claims of\nlaw--they were far \"poorer than Moses' estimation.\" But, blessed be\nGod, they will come in under the rich provisions of divine grace.\nHaving learnt their total inability \"to dig,\" they will not be\n\"ashamed to beg;\" and hence they shall experience the deep blessedness\nof being cast upon the sovereign mercy of Jehovah, which stretches,\nlike a golden chain, \"from everlasting to everlasting.\" It is well to\nbe poor, when the knowledge of our poverty serves but to unfold to us\nthe exhaustless riches of divine grace. That grace can never suffer\nany one to go empty away. It can never tell any one that he is too\npoor. It can meet the very deepest human need; and not only so, but it\nis glorified in meeting it. This holds good in every case. It is true\nof any individual sinner, and it is true with respect to Israel, who,\nhaving been valued by the lawgiver, have proved \"poorer than his\nestimation.\" Grace is the grand and only resource for all. It is the\nbasis of our salvation, the basis of a life of practical godliness,\nand the basis of those imperishable hopes which animate us amid the\ntrials and conflicts of this sin-stricken world. May we cherish a\ndeeper sense of grace, and more ardent desire for the glory.\n\nWe shall here close our meditations upon this most profound and\nprecious book. If the foregoing pages should be used of God to awaken\nan interest in a section of inspiration which has been so much\nneglected by the Church in all ages, they shall not have been written\nin vain.\n\n _C. H. M._\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nVariations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained\nexcept in obvious cases of typographical error.\n\nPage 80: \"I shall now preceed to quote at length\" ... \"preceed\" has\nbeen replaced with \"proceed\".\n\nPage 224: \"a pair of turtle-doves or to young pigeons\" ... \"to\" has\nbeen replaced with \"two\".\n\nPage 241: \"consigned to deary solitude\" ... \"deary\" has been replaced\nwith \"dreary\".\n\nPage 290: \"coals of fire from off the altar before Lord\" ... \"the\" has\nbeen added \"before the Lord\".","title":"Notes on the Book of Leviticus","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":108405}