LEVITICUS, Section 3, (Lev. 15—end).
C H Mackintosh.

Leviticus 15

This chapter treats of a variety of ceremonial uncleannesses of a much less serious nature
than leprosy. This latter would seem to be presented as the expression of the deep-seated
energy of nature's evil; whereas, chap. 15 details a number of things which are merely
unavoidable infirmities, but which, as being, in any measure the outflow of nature, were
defiling, and needed the provisions of divine grace. The divine presence in the assembly
demanded a high order of holiness and moral purity. Every movement of nature had to be
counteracted. Even things which, so far as man was concerned, might seem to be
unavoidable weaknesses, had a defiling influence, and required cleaning, because
Jehovah was in the camp. Nothing offensive, nothing unsightly, nothing in any way
uncomely, should be suffered within the pure, unsullied and sacred precincts of the
presence of the God of Israel. The uncircumcised nations around would have understood
nothing of such holy ordinances; but Jehovah would have Israel holy, because He was
Israel's God. If they were to be privileged and distinguished by having the presence of a
holy God, they would need to be a holy people.

Nothing can be more calculated to elicit the soul's admiration than the jealous care of
Jehovah over all the habits and practices of His people. At home and abroad, asleep and
awake, by day and by night, He guarded them. He attended to their food, He attended to
their clothing, He attended to their most minute and private concerns. If some trifling
spot appeared upon the person, it had to be instantly and carefully looked into. In a word,
nothing was overlooked which could, in any wise, affect the well-being or purity of those
with whom Jehovah had associated Himself, and in whose midst He dwelt. He took an
interest in their most trivial affairs. He carefully attended to everything connected with
them, whether publicly, socially, or privately.

This, to an uncircumcised person, would have proved an intolerable burden. For such an
one to have a God of infinite holiness about his path, by day, and about his bed, by night,
would have involved an amount of restraint beyond all power of endurance; but to a true
lover of holiness, a lover of God, nothing; could be more delightful. Such an one rejoices
in the sweet assurance that God is always near; and he delights in the holiness which is,
at once, demanded and secured by the presence of God.

Reader, say, is it thus with you? Do you love the divine presence and the holiness which
that presence demands? are you indulging in anything incompatible with the holiness of
God's presence? Are your habits of thought, feeling, and action, such as comport with the
purity and elevation of the sanctuary? remember, when you read this fifteenth chapter of
Leviticus, that it was written for your learning. You are to read it in the Spirit, for to you
it has a spiritual application. To read it in any other way is to wrest it to your own
destruction, or, to use a ceremonial phrase, "to seethe a kid in its mother's milk."

Do you ask, "what am I to learn from such a section of Scripture? What is its application
to me?' In the first place, let me ask, do you not admit that it was written for your
learning? This, I imagine, you will not question, seeing the inspired apostle so expressly
declare that, "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning."
(Rom.15: 4) Many seem to forget this important statement, at least, in so far as the book
of Leviticus is concerned. They cannot conceive it possible, that they are to learn ought
from the rites and ceremonies of a by-gone age, and particularly from such rites and
ceremonies as the fifteenth of Leviticus records. But, when we remember, that God the
Holy Ghost has written this very chapter—that every paragraph, every verse, every line of
it "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable," it should lead us to inquire what it
means. Surely, what God has written His child should read. No doubt, there is need of
spiritual power to know how, and spiritual wisdom to know when, to read such a chapter;
but the same holds good with respect to any chapter. One thing is certain, if we were
sufficiently spiritual, sufficiently heavenly, sufficiently abstracted from nature, and
elevated above earth, we should deduce nought but purely spiritual principles and ideas
from this and kindred chapters. If an angel from heaven were to read such sections, how
should he regard them? Only in a spiritual and heavenly light; only as the depositories of
the purest and highest morality. And why should not we do the same? I believe we are
not aware of what positive contempt we pour upon the sacred Volume by suffering any
portion of it to be so grossly neglected as the book of Leviticus has been. If this book
ought not to be read, surely it ought not to have been written. If it be not "profitable,"
surely it ought not to have had a place assigned it in the canon of divine inspiration; but,
inasmuch as it hath pleased "the only wise God" to write this book, it surely ought to
please His children to read it.

No doubt, spiritual wisdom, holy discernment, and that refined moral sense, which only
communion with God can impart—all these things would be needed in order to form a
judgement as to when such scripture ought to be read. We should feel strongly disposed
to question the sound judgement and refined taste of a man, who could stand up and read
the fifteenth of Leviticus, in the midst of an ordinary congregation. But why? Is it
because it is not "divinely inspired," and, as such, "profitable?" By no means; but because
the generality of persons are not sufficiently spiritual to enter into its pure and holy
lessons.

What, then, are we to learn from the chapter before us? In the first place, we learn to
watch, with holy jealousy, everything that emanates from nature. Every movement of,
and every emanation from, nature is defiling. Fallen human nature is an impure fountain,
and all its streams are polluting. It cannot send forth ought that is pure, holy, or good.
This is a lesson frequently inculcated in the Book of Leviticus, and it is impressively
taught in this chapter.

But, blessed be the grace that has made such ample provision for nature's defilement!
This provision is presented under two distinct forms, throughout the entire of the book of
God, and throughout this section of it in particular—namely, "water and blood." Both
these are founded upon the death of Christ. The blood that expiates and the water that
cleanses flowed from the pierced side of a crucified Christ. (Comp. John 19: 34, with 1
John 5: 6) "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7) And
the word of God cleanseth our practical habits and ways. (Ps.119: 9; Eph.5: 26) Thus, we
are maintained in fitness for communion and worship, though passing through a scene
where all is defiling, and carrying with us a nature, every movement of which leaves a
soil behind.

It has been already remarked that our chapter treats of a class of ceremonial defilement's
less serious than leprosy. This will account for the fact that atonement is here
foreshadowed, not by a bullock or a lamb, but by the lowest order of sacrifice—namely,
"two turtle doves." But, on the other hand, the cleansing virtue of the Word is continually
introduced, in the ceremonial actions of "washing," "bathing," and "rinsing."
"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to
thy word." "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave
himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word." Water held a most important place in the Levitical system of purification, and, as
a type of the Word, nothing can be more interesting or instructive.

Thus we can gather up the most valuable points from this fifteenth chapter of Leviticus.
We learn, in a very striking manner, the intense holiness of the divine presence. Not a
soil, not a stain, not a speck can be tolerated, for a moment, in that thrice-hallowed
region. "Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, that they die
not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them." (Ver. 31.)

Again, we learn that human nature is the overflowing fountain of uncleanness. It is
hopelessly defiled; and not only defiled, but defiling. Awake or asleep, sitting, standing,
or lying, nature is defiled and defiling. Its very touch conveys pollution. This is a deeply-
humbling lesson for proud humanity; but thus it is. The Book of Leviticus holds up a,
faithful mirror to nature. It leaves "flesh" nothing to glory in. Men may boast of their
refinement, their moral sense, their dignity. Let them study the third book of Moses, and
there they will see what it is all really worth, in God's estimation.

Finally, we learn, afresh, the expiatory value of the blood of Christ, and the cleansing,
purifying, sanctifying virtues of the precious word of God. When we think of the
unsullied purity of the sanctuary, and then reflect upon nature's irremediable defilement,
and ask the question, "However can we enter and dwell there?" the answer is found in"
the blood and water" which flowed from the side of a crucified Christ—a Christ who
gave up His life unto death for us, that we might live by Him. "There are three that bear
record in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and," blessed be God," these
three agree in one." The Spirit does not convey to our ears a message diverse from that
which we find in the Word; and both the Word and the Spirit declare to us the
preciousness and efficacy of the blood.

Can we not, therefore, say that the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus was "written for our
learning?" Has it not its own distinct place in the divine canon Assuredly. There would be
a blank were it omitted. We learn in it what we could not learn in the same way,
anywhere else. True, all Scripture teaches us the holiness of God, the vileness of nature,
the efficacy of the blood, the value of the Word but the chapter upon which we have been
pondering presents these great truths to our notice, and presses them upon our hearts in a
manner quite peculiar to itself.

May every section of our Father's Volume be precious to our hearts. May every one of
His testimonies be sweeter to us than honey and the honeycomb, and may "every one of
his righteous judgements" have its due place in our souls.

Leviticus 16.

This chapter unfolds some of the weightiest principles of truth which can possibly engage
the renewed mind. It presents the doctrine of atonement with uncommon fullness and
power. In short, we must rank the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus amongst the most
precious and important sections of Inspiration; if indeed it be allowable to make
comparisons where all is divine.

Looking at this chapter, historically, it furnished a record of the transactions of the great
day of atonement in Israel, whereby Jehovah's relationship with the assembly was
established and maintained, and all the sins, failures, and infirmities of the people fully
atoned for, so that the Lord God might dwell among them. The blood which was shed
upon this solemn day formed the basis of Jehovah's throne in the midst of the
congregation. In virtue of it, a holy God could take up His abode in the midst of the
people, notwithstanding all their uncleanness. "The tenth day of the seventh month" was
a unique day in Israel. There was no other day in the year like it. The sacrifices of this
one day formed the ground of God's dealing in grace, mercy, patience, and forbearance.

Furthermore, we learn from this portion of inspired history," that the way into the holiest
of all was not yet made manifest." God was hidden behind a veil and man was at a
distance. "And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when
they offered before the Lord, and died; and the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron
thy brother, that he come not at all times unto the holy place within the veil before the
mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the
mercy seat."

The way was not open for man to approach, at all times, into the divine presence, nor was
there any provision, in the entire range of the Mosaic ritual, for his abiding there
continually. God was shut in from man; and man was shut out from God, nor could "the
blood of bulls and goats" open a permanent meeting place; "A sacrifice of nobler name
and richer blood" was needed to accomplish this. "For the law having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then
would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a
remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and of goats should take away sins." (Heb. 10: 1-4) Neither the Levitical priesthood nor
the Levitical sacrifices, could yield perfection. Insufficiency was stamped on the latter,
infirmity on the former, imperfection on both. An imperfect man could not be a perfect
priest; nor could an imperfect sacrifice give a perfect conscience. Aaron was not
competent or entitled to take his seat within the veil, nor could the sacrifices which he
offered rend that veil.

Thus much as to our chapter, historically. Let us now look at it typically.

"Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a
ram for a burnt offering." (Ver. 3) Here, we have the two grand aspects of Christ's
atoning work, as that which perfectly maintains the divine glory, and perfectly meets
man's deepest need. There is no mention, throughout all the services of this unique and
solemn day, of a meat offering, or a peace offering. The perfect human life of our blessed
Lord is not foreshadowed, here, nor is the communion of the soul with God, consequent
upon His accomplished work, unfolded. In a word, the one grand subject is "atonement,"
and that in a double way namely, first, as meeting all the claims of God—the claims of
His nature—the claims of His character—the claims of His throne; and, secondly, as
perfectly meeting all man's guilt and all his necessities. We must bear these two points in
mind, if we would have a clear understanding of the truth presented in this chapter, or of
the doctrine of the great day of atonement. "Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place,"
with atonement, as securing the glory of God, in every possible way, whether as respects
His counsels of redeeming love toward the church, toward Israel, and toward the whole
creation, or in reference to all the claims of His moral administration; and with
atonement as fully meeting man's guilty and needy condition. These two aspects of the
atonement will continually present themselves to our view as we ponder the precious
contents of our chapter. Their importance cannot possibly be overestimated.

"He shall put on the holy linen coat, and be shall have the linen breeches upon his Flesh,
and he shell be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired:
these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
(Ver. 4) Aaron's person, washed in pure water, and robed in the white linen garments,
furnishes a lovely and impressive type of Christ entering upon the work of atonement. He
is seen to be personally and characteristically pure and spotless. "For their sakes I
sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John 17: 19) It is
peculiarly precious to be called, as it were, to gaze upon the Person of our divine Priest,
in all His essential holiness. The Holy Ghost delights in every thing that unfolds Christ to
the view of His people; and wherever we behold Him, we see Him to be the same
spotless, perfect, glorious, precious, peerless Jesus, "the fairest among ten thousand, yea,
altogether lovely." He did not need to do or to wear anything, in order to be pure and
spotless. He needed no pure water, no fine linen. He was, intrinsically and practically,
"the holy One of God." What Aaron did, and what he wore—the washing and the robing,
are but the faint shadows of what Christ is. The law had only a "shadow," and "not the
very image of good things to come." Blessed be God, we have not merely the shadow, but
the eternal and divine reality—Christ Himself.

"And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a
sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin
offering, Which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house." (Ver.
5, 6) Aaron and his house represent the Church, not indeed as the "one body," but as a
priestly house. It is not the Church as we find it developed in Ephesians and Colossians,
but rather as we find it in the First Epistle of Peter, in the following well-known passage:
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2: 5) So also in Hebrews:
"But Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." (Heb. 3: 6) We must ever
remember that there is no revelation of the mystery of the Church in the Old Testament.
Types and shadows there are, but no revelation. That wondrous mystery of Jew and
Gentile forming "one body," "one new man," and united to a glorified Christ in heaven,
could not, as is obvious, be revealed until Christ had taken His place above. Of this
mystery Paul was, pre-eminently, made a steward and a minister, as he tells us in
Ephesians 3: 1-12, a passage which I would commend to the prayerful attention of the
Christian reader.

"And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for
the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which
the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to
be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with
him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness." (Ver. 7-10) In these two
goats, we have the two aspects of atonement already referred to. "The Lord's lot "fell
upon one; and the people's lot fell upon the other. In the case of the former, it was not a
question of the persons or the sins which were to be forgiven, nor of God's counsels of
grace toward His elect. These things, I need hardly say, are of infinite moment; but they
are not involved in the case of "the goat on which the Lord's lot fell." This latter typifies
the death of Christ as that wherein God has been perfectly glorified, with respect to sin in
general. This great truth is fully set forth in the remarkable expression, "the Lord's lot."
God has a peculiar portion in the death of Christ—a portion quite distinct—a portion
which would hold eternally good even though no sinner were ever to be saved. In order to
see the force of this, it is needful to bear in mind how God has been dishonoured in this
world. His truth has been despised. His authority has been contemned. His majesty has
been slighted. His law has been broken. His claims have been disregarded. His name has
been blasphemed. His character has been traduced.

Now, the death of Christ has made provision for all this. It has perfectly glorified God in
the very place where all these things have been done. It has perfectly vindicated the
majesty, the truth, the holiness, the character of God. It has divinely met all the claims of
His throne. It has atoned for sin. It has furnished a divine remedy for all the mischief
which sin introduced into the universe. It affords a ground on which the blessed God can
act in Grace, mercy, and forbearance toward all. It furnishes a warrant for the eternal
expulsion and perdition of the prince of this world. It forms the imperishable foundation
of God's moral government. In virtue of the cross, God can act according to His own
sovereignty. He can display the matchless glories of His character, and the adorable
attributes of His nature. He might, in the exercise of inflexible justice, have consigned
the human family to the lake of fire, together with the devil and his angels. But, in that
case, where would be His love, His grace, His mercy, His kindness, His long-suffering,
His compassion, His patience, His perfect goodness?

Then, on the other hand, had these precious attributes been exercised, in the absence of
atonement, where were the justice, the truth, the majesty, the holiness, the righteousness,
the governmental claims, yea, the entire moral glory of God! How could "mercy and truth
meet together?" or "righteousness and peace kiss each other" How could "truth spring out
of the earth" or "righteousness look down from heaven?" Impossible. Nought save the
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ could have fully glorified God; but that has glorified
Him. It has reflected the full glory of the divine character, as it never could have been
reflected amid the brightest splendours of an unfallen creation. By means of that
atonement, in prospect and retrospect, God has been exercising forbearance toward this
world, for well nigh six thousand years. In virtue of that atonement, the most wicked,
daring, and blasphemous of the sons of men "live, move, and have their being;" eat,
drink, and sleep. The very morsel which yonder open blaspheming infidel puts into his
mouth, he owes to the atonement which he knows not, but impiously ridicules. The
sunbeams and showers which fertilise the fields of the atheist, reach him in virtue of the
atonement of Christ. Yea, the very breath which the infidel and the atheist spend in
blaspheming God's revelation, or denying His existence, they owe to the atonement of
Christ. Were it not for that precious atonement, instead of blaspheming upon earth, they
would be weltering in hell.

Let not my reader misunderstand me, I speak not here of the forgiveness or salvation of
persons. This is quite another thing, and stands connected, as every true Christian knows,
with the confession of the name of Jesus, and the hearty belief that God raised Him from
the dead. (Rom. 10) This is plain enough, and fully understood; but it is in no wise
involved in that aspect of the atonement which we are, et present, contemplating, and
which is so strikingly foreshadowed by "the goat on which the Lord's lot fell." God's
pardoning and accepting a sinner is one thing; His bearing with that man, and showering
temporal blessings upon him, is quite another. Both are in virtue of the cross, but in a
totally different aspect and application thereof.

Nor is this distinction, by any means, unimportant. Quite the opposite. Indeed, so
important is it that where it is overlooked, there must be confusion as to the full doctrine
of atonement. Nor is this all. A clear understanding of God's ways in government,
whether in the past, the present, or the future, will be found involved in this profoundly
interesting point. And, finally, in it will be found the key wherewith to expound a number
of texts in which many Christians find considerable difficulty. I shall just adduce two or
three of these passages as examples.

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29) With
this we may connect a kindred passage in John's first epistle, is which the Lord Jesus
Christ is spoken of as" the propitiation for the whole world." (1 John 2: 2)* In both these
passages the Lord Jesus is referred to as the One who has perfectly glorified God with
respect to "Sin" and "the world," in their broadest acceptation. He is here seen as the
great Antitype of "the goat on which the Lord's lot fell." This gives us a most precious
view of the atonement of Christ, and one which is too much overlooked, or not clearly
apprehended. Whenever the question of persons and the forgiveness of sins is raised, in
connection with these and kindred passages of scripture, the mind is sure to get involved
in insuperable difficulties.
{*The reader will observe, in the above passage, that the words "the sins of" are
introduced by the translators, and are not inspired. The divine accuracy of the passage is
completely lost by retaining those uninspired words. The doctrine laid down is surely
thisin the first clause of the verse Christ is set forth as the propitiation For His people's
actual sins; but in the last clause, it is not a question of sins or of persons at all, but of sin
and the world in general. In fact, the whole verse presents Christ as the Antitype of the
two goats, as the One who has borne His people's sins; and, also. as the One who has
perfectly glorified God with respect to sin in general, and made provision for dealing in
grace with the world at large, and for the final deliverance and blessing of the whole
creation.}

So, also, with respect to all those passages in which God's grace to the world at large is
presented. They are founded upon that special aspect of the atonement with which we are
more immediately occupied. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature." (Mark 16) "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life, For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be
saved." (John 3: 16, 17) "I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for
all, to be testified in due time." (1 Tim. 2: 1-6) "For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men," (Titus 2: 11) "But we see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour;
that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Heb. 2: 9) "The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to
usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2
Peter 3: 9)

There is no need whatsoever for seeking to avoid the plain sense of the above and similar
passages. They bear a clear and unequivocal testimony to divine grace toward all,
without the slightest reference to man's responsibility, on the one hand, or to God's
eternal counsels, on the other. These things are just as clearly, just as fully, just as
unequivocally, taught in the word. Man is responsible, and God is sovereign. All who
bow to Scripture admit these things. But, at the same lime, it is of the very last
importance to recognise the wide aspect of the grace of God, and of the cross of Christ. It
glorifies God and leaves man wholly without excuse. Men argue about God's decrees and
man's incompetency to believe without divine influence. Their arguments prove that they
do not want God; for did they only want Him, He is near enough to be found of them.
The grace of God, and the atonement of Christ, are as wide as they could desire. "Any"—
"every"—"whosoever"—and "all," are God's own words; and I should like to know who
is shut out. If God sends a message of salvation to a man, He surely intends it for him;
and what can be more wicked and impious than to reject God's grace, and make Him a
liar, and then give His secret decrees as a reason for so doing. It would be, in a certain
sense, honest for a man to say at once, "The fact is, I do not believe God's word, and I do
not want His grace or His salvation." One could understand this; but for men to cover
their hatred of God and His truth with the drapery of a false because one-sided theology,
is the very highest character of wickedness. It is such as to make us feel, of a truth, that
the devil is never more diabolical than when he appears with the Bible in his hand.

If it be true that men are prevented, by God's secret decrees and counsels, from receiving
the gospel which He has commanded to be preached to them, then on what principle of
righteousness will they be "punished with everlasting destruction" for not obeying that
gospel? (2 Thess. 1: 6-10) Is there a single soul throughout all the gloomy regions of the
lost who blames God's counsels for his being there? Not one. Oh! no; God has made such
ample provision in the atonement of Christ, not only for the salvation of those that
believe, but also for the aspect of His grace toward those that reject the gospel, that there
is no excuse. It is not because a man cannot, but because he will not believe that he "shall
be punished with everlasting destruction." Never was there a more fatal mistake than for
a man to ensconce himself behind God's decrees while deliberately and intelligently
refusing God's grace; and this is all the more dangerous, because supported by the
dogmas of a one-sided theology. God's grace is free to all; and if we ask, How is this? the
answer is, "Jehovah's lot" fell upon the true victim, in order that He might be perfectly
glorified as to sin, in its widest aspect, and be free to act in grace toward all, and "preach
the gospel to every creature." This grace and this preaching must have a solid basis, and
that basis is found in the atonement; and though man should reject, God is glorified in the
exercise of grace, and in the offer of salvation, because of the basis on which both the
one and the other repose. He is glorified, and He shall be glorified, throughout eternity's
countless ages. ("Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from
this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came
there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again . . . . .
Now is the judgement of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me." (John 12: 27-32.)

Thus far we have been occupied only with one special point, namely, "the goat on which
the Lord's lot fell;" and a cursory reader might suppose that the next thing in order would
be the scape-goat, which gives us the other great aspect of the death of Christ, or its
application to the sins of the people. But no: ere we come to that, we have the fullest
confirmation of that precious line of truth which has been before us, in the fact that the
blood of the slain goat, together with the blood of the bullock, was sprinkled upon, and
before, Jehovah's throne, in order to show that all the claims of that throne were
answered in the blood of atonement, and full provision made for all the demands of'
God's moral administration.

"And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself, and shall
make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin
offering which is for himself. And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from
off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring
it within the veil. And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the
cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die
not." Here we have a most vivid and striking presentation indeed. The blood of
atonement is carried in within the veil, into the holiest of all, and there sprinkled upon
the throne of the God of Israel. The cloud of the divine presence was there; and in order
that Aaron might appear in the immediate presence of the glory, and not die, "the cloud
of incense" ascends and "covers the mercy-seat," on which the blood of atonement was to
be sprinkled "seven times." The "sweet incense beaten small" expresses the fragrance of
Christ's Person—the sweet odour of His most precious sacrifice.

"And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the
mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the Blood with his
finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people,
and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the
bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before tile mercy-seat." (Ver. 14, 15.)
"Seven" is the perfect number; and in the sprinkling of the blood seven times before the
mercy-seat we learn that whatever be the application of the atonement of Christ, whether
as to things, to places, or to persons, it is perfectly estimated in the divine presence. The
blood which secures the salvation of the Church—the "house" of the true Aaron; the
blood which secures the salvation of the "congregation" of Israel; the blood which
secures the final restoration and blessedness of the whole creation—that blood has been
presented before God, sprinkled and accepted according to all the perfectness, fragrance,
and preciousness of Christ. In the power of that blood God can accomplish all His eternal
counsels of grace. He can save the Church, and raise it into the very loftiest heights of
glory and dignity, despite of all the power of sin and Satan. He can restore Israel's
scattered tribes—He can unite Judah and Ephraim—He can accomplish all the promises
made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He can save and bless untold millions of the
Gentiles. He can restore and bless the wide creation. He can allow the beams of His glory
to lighten up the universe for ever. He can display, in the view of angels, men, and devils,
His own eternal glory—the glory of His character—the glory of His nature—the glory of
His works—the glory of His government. All this He can do, and will do; but the one
solitary pedestal upon which the stupendous fabric of glory shall rest, for ever, is the
blood of the cross—that precious blood, dear Christian reader, which has spoken peace,
divine and everlasting peace, to your heart and conscience, in the presence of Infinite
Holiness. The blood which is sprinkled upon the believer's conscience has been
sprinkled" seven times" before the throne of God. The nearer we get to God, the more
importance and value we find attached to the blood of Jesus. If we look at the brazen
altar, we find the blood there; if we look at the brazen laver, we find the blood there; if
we look at the golden altar, we find the blood there; if we look at the veil of the
tabernacle, we find the blood there: but in no place do we find so much about the blood,
as within the veil, before Jehovah's throne, in the immediate presence of the divine glory.

In heaven His blood for ever speaks,
In God the Father's ears."

"And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the
children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do
for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their
uncleanness." The same truth meets us all along. The claims of the sanctuary must be
provided for. Jehovah's courts, as well as His throne, must bear witness to the value of the
blood. The tabernacle, in the midst of Israel's uncleanness, must be fenced round about
by the divine provisions of atonement. Jehovah provided, in all things, for His own glory.
The priests and their priestly service, the place of worship, and all therein, must stand in
the power of the blood. The Holy One could not have remained, for a moment, in the
midst of the congregation, were it not for the power of the blood! It was that which left
Him free to dwell, and act, and rule, in the midst of an erring people.

"And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to
make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for
himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel." (Ver. 17) Aaron
needed to offer up sacrifice for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. He
could only enter into the sanctuary in the power of the blood. We have, in verse 17, a
type of the atonement of Christ in its application both to the church and to the
congregation of Israel. The church now enters into the holiest by the Blood of Jesus.
(Heb. 10) As to Israel, the veil is still on their hearts. (2 Cor. 3) They are still at. a
distance, although full provision has been made in the cross for their forgiveness and
restoration when they shall turn to the Lord. This. entire period is, properly speaking, the
day of atonement. The true Aaron is gone in with His own blood, into heaven itself, now
to appear in the presence of God for us. By and by, He will come forth to lead the
congregation of Israel into the full results of His accomplished work. Meanwhile, His
house, that is to say, all true believers, are associated with Him, having boldness to enter
into the holiest, being brought nigh by the blood of Jesus.

"And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it;
and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon
the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his
finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of
Israel." (Ver. 18, 19) Thus the atoning blood was sprinkled everywhere, from the throne
of God within the veil, to the altar which stood in the court of the tabernacle of the
congregation. "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should
be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than
these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place
every year with blood of others; for then must He often have suffered since the
foundation of the world; but now once in the end of the world (at the end of everything
earthly, everything human) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement: so Christ was
once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear
the second time, without sin, unto salvation." (Heb. 9: 23-28)

There is but one way into the holiest of all, and that is a blood-sprinkled way. It is vain to
strive to enter by any other. Men may attempt to work themselves in, to pray themselves
in, to buy themselves in, to get in by a pathway of ordinances, or it may be of half-
ordinances, half-Christ; but it is of no use. God speaks of one way, and but one, and that
way has been thrown open through the rent veil of the Saviour's flesh. Along that way
have the millions of the saved passed, from age to age. Patriarchs, prophets, Apostles,
martyrs, saints in every age, from Abel downwards, have trod that blessed way, and
found thereby sure and undisputed access. The one sacrifice of the Cross is divinely
sufficient for all. God asks no more, and He can take no less. To add ought thereto is to
cast dishonour upon that with which God has declared himself well pleased, yea, in
which He is infinitely glorified. To diminish ought therefrom is to deny man's guilt and
ruin, and offer an indignity to the justice and majesty of the eternal Trinity.

"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the
congregation, and The altar, he shall bring the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the
children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head
of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the
goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go
the goat in the wilderness."

Here, then, we have the other grand idea attached to the death of Christ—namely, the full
and final forgiveness of the people. If the death of Christ forms the foundation of the
glory of God, it also forms the foundation of the perfect forgiveness of sins to all who put
their trust in it. This latter, blessed be God, is but a secondary, an inferior application of
the atonement, though our foolish hearts would fain regard it as the very highest possible
view of the cross to see in it that which puts away all our sins. This is a mistake. God's
glory is the first thing; our salvation is the second. To maintain Gods glory was the chief,
the darling object of the heart of Christ. This object He pursued from first to last, with an
undeviating purpose and unflinching fidelity. "Therefore doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." (John 10: 17) "Now is the Son of
Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also
glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him." (John 13: 31, 32) "Listen, O
isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people from far: the Lord hath called me from the womb;
from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my
mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a
polished shaft: in his quiver hath He hid me; and said unto me, Thou art my servant, 0
Israel, in whom I will be glorified." (Isaiah 49. 1-3)

Thus, the glory of God was the paramount object of the Lord Jesus Christ, in life and in
death. He lived and died to glorify His Father's name. Does the Church lose ought by
this? Nay. Does Israel Nay. Do the Gentiles? Nay. In no way could their salvation and
blessedness be so perfectly provided for as by being made subsidiary to the glory of God.
Hearken to the divine response to Christ, the true Israel, in the sublime passage just
quoted. "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of
Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the
Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth."

And is it not a blessed thing to know that God is glorified in the putting away of our sins
We may ask, Where are our sins? Put away. By what? By that act of Christ upon the cross
in which God has been eternally glorified. Thus it is. The two goats, on the day of
atonement, give the double aspect of the one act. In the one, we see God's glory
maintained; in the other, sins put away. The one is as perfect as the other. We are as
perfectly forgiven as God is perfectly glorified, by the death of Christ. Was there one
single point in which God was not glorified in the cross? Not one. Neither is there one
single point in which we are not perfectly forgiven. I say we;" for albeit the congregation
of Israel is the primary object contemplated in the beautiful and impressive ordinance of
the scape-goat; yet does it hold good, in the fullest way, with respect to every soul that
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is as perfectly forgiven as God is perfectly
glorified, by the atonement of the cross. How many of the sins of Israel did the scape-
goat bear away? "All." Precious word! Not one left behind. and whither did he bear them?
"Into a land not inhabited"—a land where they could never be found, because there was
no one there to look for them. Could any type be more perfect? Could we possibly have a
more graphic picture of Christ's accomplished sacrifice, in its primary and secondary
aspects? Impossible. We can hang with intense admiration over such a picture, and, as we
gaze, exclaim, "Of a truth, the pencil of the Master is here! "

Reader, pause here, and say, do you know that all your sins are forgiven, according to the
perfection of Christ's sacrifice? If you simply Believe on His name they are so. They are
all gone, and gone for ever. Say not, as so many anxious souls do, "I fear I do not
realise." There is no such word as "realise" in the entire gospel. We are not saved by
realisation, but by Christ; and the way to get Christ in all His fullness and preciousness is
to believe" only believe!" And what will be the result? "The worshippers once purged
should have no more conscience of sins." Observe this. "No more Conscience of sins."
this must be the result, inasmuch as Christ's sacrifice is perfect-so perfect, that God is
glorified therein. Now, it must be obvious to you that Christ's work does not need your
realisation to be added to it to make it perfect. This could not be. We might as well say
that the work of creation was not complete until Adam realised it in the garden of Eden.
True, he did realise; but what did he realise? A perfect work. Thus let it be with your
precious soul this moment, if it has never been so before. May you, now and evermore,
repose, in artless simplicity, upon the One who has, by one offering, perfected for ever
them that are sanctified! And how are they sanctified? Is it by realisation? By no means.
How then? By the perfect work of Christ.

Having sought—alas! most feebly—to unfold the doctrine of this marvellous chapter, so
far as God has given me light upon it, there is just one point further to which I shall
merely call my reader's attention, ere I close this section. It is contained in the following
quotation: "and this shall be a statute for ever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be
one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall
the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your
sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest and ye shall afflict your souls, by a
statute for ever." (Ver. 29-31)

This shall have its full accomplishment in the saved remnant of Israel by and by, as
foretold by the prophet Zechariah: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look
upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his
only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In
that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon
in the valley of Megiddon . . . . In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house
of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. . . . . . . and it
shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear (in one place) and dark: (in
another:) but it shall be one day, (the true and long-expected Sabbath,) which shall be
known to the Lord, not day nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it
shall be light. And it shall be in that day. that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;
half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer
and in winter shall it be. And THE LORD SHALL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH:
in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one . . . . . . . In that day shall there be
upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD . . . . . . And in that day
there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts." (Zech. 12—14)

What a day that will be! No marvel that it should be so frequently and so emphatically
introduced in the above glowing passage. It will be a bright and blessed "Sabbath of rest"
when the mourning remnant shall gather, in the spirit of true penitence, round the open
fountain, and enter into the full and final results of the great day of atonement. They shall
"afflict their souls," no doubt; for how could they do otherwise, while fixing their
repentant gaze "upon him whom they have pierced?" But, oh! what a Sabbath they will
have! Jerusalem will have a brimming cup of salvation, after her long and dreary night of
sorrow. Her former desolations shall be forgotten, and her children, restored to their long-
lost dwellings, shall take down their harps from the willows, and sing once more the
sweet songs of Zion beneath the peaceful shade of the vine And fig tree.

Blessed be God, the time is at hand. Every setting sun brings us nearer to that blissful
Sabbath. The word is, "Surely, I come quickly;" and all around seems to tell us that "the
days are at hand, and the effect of every vision." May we be "sober, and watch unto
prayer!" May we keep ourselves unspotted from the world; and thus, in the spirit of our
minds, the affections of our hearts, and the experience of our souls, be ready to meet the
heavenly Bridegroom! Our place for the present is outside the camp. Thank God that it is
so! It would be an unspeakable loss to be inside. The same cross which has brought us
inside the veil has cast us outside the camp. Christ was cast out thither, and we are with
Him there; but He has been received up into heaven, and we are with Him there. Is it not
a mercy to be outside of all that which has rejected our blessed Lord and Master? Truly
so; and the more we know of Jesus, and the more we know of this present evil world, the
more thankful we shall be to find our place outside of it all with Him.

Leviticus 17.

In this chapter the reader will find two special points, namely—first, that life belongs to
Jehovah; and, secondly, that the power of atonement is in the blood. The Lord attached
peculiar importance to both these things. He would have them impressed upon every
member of the congregation.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto
all the children of Israel, and say unto them, This is the thing which the Lord hath
commanded, saying, What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox,
or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, and bringeth it not unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord, before
the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and
that man shall be cut off from among his people." This was a most solemn matter; and
we may ask what was involved in offering a sacrifice otherwise than in the manner here
prescribed? It was nothing less than robbing Jehovah of His rights, and presenting to
Satan that which was due to God. A man might say, "Can I not offer a sacrifice in one
place as well as another?" The answer is, "Life belongs to God, and His claim thereto
must be recognised in the place which He has appointed—before the tabernacle of the
Lord." That was the only meeting place between God and man. To offer elsewhere
proved that the heart did not want God.

The moral of this is plain. There is one place where God has appointed to meet the
sinner, and that is the cross—the antitype of the brazen altar. There and there alone has
God's claim upon the life been duly recognised. To reject this meeting-place is to bring
down judgement upon oneself—it is to trample under foot the just claims of God, and to
arrogate to oneself a right to life which all have forfeited. It is important to see this.

"And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the Lord." The
blood and the fat belonged to God. The blessed Jesus fully recognised this. He
surrendered His life to God, and all his hidden enemies were devoted to Him likewise.
He voluntarily walked to the altar and there gave up His precious life; and the fragrant
odour of His intrinsic excellency ascended to the throne of God. Blessed Jesus! it is
sweet, at every step of our way, to be reminded of Thee.

The second point above referred to is clearly stated in verse 11. "For the life of the flesh
is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your
souls: for IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL."
The connection between the two points is deeply interesting. When man duly takes his
place as one possessing no title whatsoever to lifewhen he fully recognises God's claims
upon him, then the divine record is, "I have given you the life to make an atonement for
your soul." Yes; atonement is God's gift to man; and, be it carefully noted, that this
atonement is in the blood, and only in the blood. "It is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul." It is not the blood and something else. The word is most explicit.
It attributes atonement exclusively to the blood. "Without shedding of blood there is no
remission." (Heb. 9: 22) It was the death of Christ that rent the veil. It is "by the blood of
Jesus" we have "boldness to enter into the holiest." "We have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Eph. 1: 7; Col. 1: 14) "Having made peace by the blood
of his cross." "Ye who were afar off are made nigh by the blood of his cross." "The blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7) "They washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev. 7) "They overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb." (Rev. 12)

I would desire to call my reader's earnest attention to the precious and vital doctrine of
the blood. I am anxious that he should see its true place. The blood of Christ is the
foundation of everything. It is the ground of God's righteousness in justifying an ungodly
sinner that believes on the name of the Son of God; and it is the ground of the sinner's
confidence in drawing nigh to a holy God who is of purer eyes than to behold evil. God
would be just in the condemnation of the sinner; but, through the death of Christ, He can
be just And the justifier of him that believeth—a just God and a Saviour. The
righteousness of God is His consistency with Himself—His acting in harmony with His
revealed character. Hence, were it not for the cross, His consistency with Himself would,
of necessity, demand the death and judgement of the sinner; but in the cross that death
and judgement were borne by the sinner's Surety, so that the same divine consistency is
perfectly maintained while a holy God justifies an ungodly sinner through faith. It is all
through the blood of Jesus—nothing less—nothing more—nothing different. "It is the
blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. This is conclusive. This is God's simple
plan of justification. Man's plan is much more cumbrous, much more roundabout. And
not only is it cumbrous and roundabout, but it attributes righteousness to something quite
different from what I find in the word. If I look from Genesis 3 down to the close of
Revelation, I find the blood of Christ put forward as the alone ground of righteousness.
We get pardon, peace, life, righteousness, all by the blood, and nothing but the blood.
The entire book of Leviticus, and particularly the chapter upon which we have just been
meditating, is a commentary upon the doctrine of the blood. It seems strange to have to
insist upon a fact so obvious to every dispassionate teachable student of holy Scripture.
Yet so it is. Our minds are prone to slip away from the plain testimony of the word. We
are ready to adopt opinions without ever calmly investigating them in the light of the
divine testimonies. In this way we get into confusion, darkness, and error.

May we all learn to give the blood of Christ its due Place! It is so precious in God's sight
that He will not suffer ought else to be added to or mingled with it. "The life of the flesh
is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your
souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

Leviticus 18—Leviticus 20.

This section sets before us, in a very remarkable manner, the personal sanctity and moral
propriety which Jehovah looked for, on the part of those whom He had graciously
introduced into relationship with Himself and, at the same time, it presents a most
humiliating picture of the enormities of which human nature is capable.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, l am the Lord your God." Here we have the foundation of the entire superstructure
of moral conduct which these chapters present. Israel's actings were to take their
character from the fact that Jehovah was their God. They were called to comport
themselves in a manner worthy of so high and holy a position. It was God's prerogative to
set forth the special character and line of conduct becoming a people with whom He was
pleased to associate His name. Hence the frequency of the expressions—"I am the Lord."
"I Am the Lord your God." "I the Lord your God am holy." Jehovah was their God, and
He was holy; hence, therefore, they were called to be holy likewise. His name was
invoked in their character and acting.

This is the true principle of holiness for the people of God in all ages. They are to be
governed and characterised by the revelation which He has made of Himself. Their
conduct is to be founded upon what He is, not upon what they are in themselves. This
entirely sets aside the principle expressed in the words, "Stand by thyself, I am holier
than thou;" a principle so justly repudiated by every sensitive mind. It is not a comparison
of one man with another; but a simple statement of the line of conduct which God looks
for in those who belong to Him. "after the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt,
shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye
not do; neither shall ye walk in their ordinances." The Egyptians and the Canaanites were
all wrong. How was Israel to know this? Who told them? How came they to be right, and
all besides wrong? These are interesting inquiries; and the answer is as simple as the
questions are interesting. Jehovah's word was the standard by which all questions of right
and wrong were to be definitely settled in the judgement of every member of the Israel of
God. It was not, by any means, the judgement of an Israelite in opposition to the
judgement of an Egyptian or of a Canaanite; but it was the judgement of God above all.
Egypt might have her practices and her opinions, and so might Canaan; but Israel were to
have the opinions and practices laid down in the word of God. "Ye shall do my
judgements, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall
therefore keep my statutes and my judgements; which, if a man do, he shall live in them:
I am the Lord."

It will be well for my reader to get a clear, deep, full, practical sense of this truth. The
word of God must settle every question and govern every conscience. There must be no
appeal from its solemn and weighty decision. When God speaks, every heart must bow.
Men may form and hold their opinions; they may adopt and defend their practices; but
one of the finest traits in the character of "the Israel of God" is profound reverence for,
and implicit subjection to, "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."
The exhibition of this valuable feature may, perhaps, lay them open to the charge of
dogmatism, superciliousness, and self-sufficiency, on the part of those who have never
duly weighed the matter; but, in truth, nothing can be more unlike dogmatism than
simple subjection to the plain truth of God; nothing more unlike superciliousness than
reverence for the statements of inspiration; nothing more unlike self-sufficiency than
subjection to the divine authority of holy scripture.

True, there will ever be the need of carefulness as to the tone and manner in which we set
forth the authority for our convictions and our conduct. It must be made manifest, so far
as it may be, that we are wholly governed, not by our own opinions, but by the word of
God. There is great danger of attaching an importance to an opinion merely because we
have adopted it. This must be carefully guarded against. Self may creep in and display its
deformity in the defence of our opinions as much as in anything else; but we must
disallow it, in every shape and form, and be governed, in all things, by "Thus saith the
Lord."

But, then, we are not to expect that everyone will be ready to admit the full force of the
divine statutes and judgements. It is as persons walk in the integrity and energy of the
divine nature that the word of God will be owned, appreciated, and reverenced. An
Egyptian or a Canaanite would have been wholly unable to enter into the meaning or
estimate the value of these statutes and judgements, which were to govern the conduct of
the circumcised people of God; but that did not, in any wise, affect the question of
Israel's obedience. They were brought into a certain relationship with Jehovah, and that
relationship had its distinctive privileges and responsibilities. "I am the Lord your God."
This was to be the ground of their conduct. They were to act in a way worthy of the One
who had become their God, and made them His people. It was not that they were a whit
better than other people. By no means. The Egyptians or Canaanites might have
considered that the Israelites were setting themselves up as something superior in
refusing to adopt the habits of either nation. But, no; the foundation of their peculiar line
of conduct and tone of morality was laid in these words, "I am the Lord your God."

In this great and practically-important fact, Jehovah set before His people a ground of
conduct which was immovable, and a standard of morality which was as elevated, and as
enduring, as the eternal throne itself. The moment He entered into a relationship with a
people, their ethics were to assume a character and tone worthy of Him. It was no longer
a question as to what they were, either in themselves or in comparison with others; but of
what God was in comparison with all. This makes a material difference. To make self the
ground of action or the standard of ethics is not only presumptuous folly, but it is sure to
set one upon a descending scale of action. If self be my object, I must, of necessity, sink
lower and lower every day; but if, on the other hand, I set the Lord before me, I shall rise
higher and higher as, by the power of the Holy Ghost, I grow in conformity to that perfect
model which is unfolded to the gaze of faith in the sacred pages of inspiration. I shall,
undoubtedly, have to prostrate myself in the dust, under a sense of how infinitely short I
come of the mark set before me; but, then, I can never consent to the setting up of a
lower standard, nor can I ever be satisfied until I am conformed in all things to Him who
was my substitute on the cross, and is my Model in the glory.

Having said thus much on the main principle of the section before us—a principle of
unspeakable importance to Christians, in a practical point of view—I feel it needless to
enter into anything like a detailed exposition of statutes which speak for themselves in
most obvious terms. I would merely remark that those statutes range themselves under
two distinct heads, namely, first, those which set forth the shameful enormities which the
human heart is capable of devising; and, secondly, those which exhibit the exquisite
tenderness and considerate care of the God of Israel.

As to the first, it is manifest that the Spirit of God could never enact laws for the purpose
of preventing evils that have no existence. He does not construct a dam where there is no
flood to be resisted. He does not deal with abstract ideas, but with positive realities. Man
is, in very deed, capable of perpetrating each and every one of the shameful crimes
referred to in this most faithful section of the book of Leviticus. If he were not, Why
should he be told not to do so. Such a code would be wholly unsuitable for angels,
inasmuch as they are incapable of committing the sins referred to; but it suits man,
because he has gotten the seeds of those sins in his nature. This is deeply humbling. It is a
fresh declaration of the truth that man is a total wreck. From the crown of his head to the
sole of his foot, there is not so much as a single speck of moral soundness, as looked at in
the light of the divine presence. The being for whom Jehovah thought it needful to write
Leviticus 18—20 must be a vile sinner; but that being is manthe writer and reader of
these lines. How plain it is, therefore, that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God."
(Rom. 8) Thank God, the believer is "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit." He has been
taken completely out of his old creation standing, and introduced into the new creation,
in which the moral evils aimed at in this our section can have no existence. True, he has
gotten the old nature; but it is his happy privilege to "reckon" it as a dead thing, and to
walk in the abiding power of the new creation, wherein "all things are of God." This is
Christian liberty—even liberty to walk up and down in that fair creation where no trace
of evil can ever be found; hallowed liberty to walk in holiness and purity before God and
man; liberty to tread those lofty walks of personal sanctity whereon the beams of the
divine countenance ever pour themselves in living lustre. Reader, this is Christian liberty.
It is liberty, not to commit sin, but to taste the celestial sweets of a life of true holiness
and moral elevation. May we prize more highly than we have ever done this precious
boon of heaven—Christian liberty!

And, now, one word as to the second class of statutes contained in our section—namely,
those which so touchingly bring out divine tenderness and care. Take the following: "and
when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field,
neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy
vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for
the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God." (Lev. 19: 9, 10) This ordinance will
meet us again in Lev. 23, but there we shall see it in its dispensational bearing. Here, we
contemplate it morally, as unfolding the precious grace of Israel's God. He would think of
"the poor and stranger;" and He would have His people think of them likewise. When the
golden sheaves were being reaped, and the mellow clusters gathered, "the poor and
stranger" were to be remembered by the Israel of God, because Jehovah was the God of
Israel. The reaper and the grape-gatherer were not to be governed by a spirit of grasping
covetousness, which would bare the corners of the field and strip the branches of the
vine, but rather by a spirit of large-hearted, genuine benevolence, which would leave a
sheaf and a cluster "for the poor and stranger," that they, too, might rejoice in the
unbounded goodness of Him whose paths drop fatness, and on whose open hand all the
sons of want may confidently wait.

The Book of Ruth furnishes a fine example of one who fully acted out this most
benevolent statute. "And Boaz said unto her, (Ruth,) At meal-time come thou hither, and
eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he
reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed and left. And when she was
risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the
sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her,
and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not." (Ruth 2: 14-16) Most
touching and beautiful grace! Truly, it is good for our poor selfish hearts to be brought in
contact with such principles and such practices. Nothing can surpass the exquisite
refinement of the words, "let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her." It was,
evidently, the desire of this noble Israelite that "the stranger" might have abundance, and
have it, too, rather as the fruit of her own gleaning than of his benevolence. This was the
very essence of refinement. It was putting her in immediate connection with, and
dependence upon, the God of Israel, who had fully recognised and provided for "the
gleaner." Boaz was merely acting out that gracious ordinance of which Ruth was reaping
the benefit. The same grace that had given him the field gave her the gleanings. They
were both debtors to grace. She was the happy recipient of Jehovah's goodness. He was
the honoured exponent of Jehovah's most gracious institution. All was in most lovely
moral order. The creature was blessed and God was glorified. Who would not own that it
is good for us to 'be allowed to breathe such an atmosphere?

Let us now turn to another statute of our section. "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour,
neither rob Him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the
morning." (Lev. 19: 13) What tender care is here! The High and Mighty One that
inhabiteth eternity can take knowledge of the thoughts and feelings that spring up in the
heart of a poor labourer. He knows and takes into account the expectations of such an
one in reference to the fruit of his day's toil. The wages will, naturally, be looked for. The
labourer's heart counts upon them; the family meal depends upon them. Oh! let them not
be held back. Send not the labourer home with a heavy heart, to make the heart of his
wife and family heavy likewise. By all means, give him that for which He has wrought, to
which he has a right, and on which his heart is set. He is a husband, he is a father; and he
has borne the burden and heat of the day that his wife and children may not go hungry to
bed. Disappoint him not. Give him his due. Thus does our God take notice of the very
throbbings of the labourer's heart, And make provision for his rising expectations.
Precious grace! Most tender, thoughtful, touching, condescending love! The bare
contemplation of such statutes is sufficient to throw one into a flood of tenderness. Could
any one read such passages and not be melted? Could any one read them and
thoughtlessly dismiss a poor labourer, not knowing whether he and his family have
wherewithal to meet the cravings of hunger?

Nothing can be more painful to a tender heart than the lack of kindly consideration for
the poor, so often manifested by the rich. These latter can sit down to their sumptuous
repast after dismissing from their door some poor industrious creature who had come
seeking the just reward of his honest labour. They think not of the aching heart with
which that man returns to his family, to tell them of the disappointment to himself and to
them. Oh! it is terrible. It is most offensive to God, and to all who have drunk, in any
measure, into His grace. If we would know what God thinks of such acting, we have only
to hearken to the following accents of holy indignation: "Behold, the hire of the labourers
who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the
cries of them that have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." (James
5: 4) "The Lord of Sabaoth" hears the cry of the aggrieved and disappointed labourer. His
tender love tells itself forth in the institutions of His moral government; and even though
the heart should not be melted by the grace of those institutions, the conduct should, at
least, be governed by the righteousness thereof. God will not suffer the claims of the poor
to be heartlessly tossed aside by those who are so hardened by the influence of wealth as
to be insensible to the appeals of tenderness, and who are so far removed beyond the
region of personal need as to be incapable of feeling for those whose lot it is to spend
their days amid exhausting toil or pinching poverty. The poor are the special objects of
God's care. Again and again He makes provision for them in the statutes of His moral
administration; and it is particularly declared of Him who shall, ere long, assume, in
manifested glory, the reins of government, that "He shall deliver the needy when he
crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and
shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence;
and precious shall their blood be in his sight." (Psalm 72: 12-14)

May we profit by the review of those precious and deeply practical truths! May our hearts
be affected, and our conduct influenced by them. We live in a heartless world; and there
is a vast amount of selfishness in our own hearts. We are not sufficiently affected by the
thought of the need of others. We are apt to forget the poor in the midst of our
abundance. We often forget that the very persons whose labour ministers to our personal
comfort are living, it may be, in the deepest poverty. Let us think of these things. Let us
beware of "grinding the faces of the poor." If the Jews of old were taught by the statutes
and ordinances of the Mosaic economy, to entertain kindly feelings toward the poor, and
to deal tenderly and graciously with the sons of toil, how much more ought the higher
and more spiritual ethics of the Gospel dispensation produce in the hearts and lives of
Christians a large-hearted benevolence toward every form of human need.

True, there in urgent need of prudence and caution, lest we take a man out of the
honourable position in which he was designed and fitted to move—namely, a position of
dependence upon the fruits, the precious and fragrant fruits, of honest industry. This
would be a grievous injury instead of a benefit. The example of Boaz should instruct in
this matter. He allowed Ruth to glean; but he took care to make her gleaning profitable.
This is a very safe and a very simple principle. God intends that man should work at
something or another, and we run counter to Him when we draw our fellow out of the
place of dependence upon the results of patient industry, into that of dependence upon
the results of false benevolence. The former is as honourable and elevating as the latter is
contemptible and demoralising. There is no bread so sweet to the taste as that which is
nobly earned; but then those who earn their bread should get enough. A man will feed
and care his horses; how much more his fellow, who yields him the labour of his hands
from Monday morning till Saturday night.

But, some will say, "There are two sides to this question." Unquestionably there are; and,
no doubt, one meets with a great deal amongst the poor which is calculated to, dry up the
springs of benevolence and genuine sympathy. There is much which tends to steel the
heart, and close the hand; but, one thing is certain—it is better to be deceived in ninety-
nine cases out of a hundred than to shut up the bowels of compassion against a single
worthy object. Your heavenly Father causes His sun to shine upon the evil and on the
good; and sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust. The sure sunbeams that
gladden the heart of some devoted servant of Christ are poured upon the path of some
ungodly sinner; and the self-same shower that falls upon the tillage of a true believer,
enriches also the furrows of some blaspheming infidel. This is to be our model. "Be ye,
therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5: 48) It is
only as we set the Lord before us, and walk in the power of His grace, that we shall be
able to go on, from day to day, meeting with a tender heart and an open hand every
possible form of human misery. It is only as we ourselves are drinking at the exhaustless
fountain of divine love and tenderness, that we shall be able to go on ministering to
human need unchecked by the oft-repeated manifestation of human depravity. Our tiny
springs would soon be dried up were they not maintained in unbroken connection with
that ever-gushing source.

The statute which next presents itself for our consideration, exemplifies, most touchingly,
the tender care of the God of Israel. "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-
block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord." (Ver. 14) Here, a barrier is
erected to stem the rising tide of irritability with which uncontrolled nature would be
almost sure to meet the personal infirmity of deafness. How well we can understand this!
Nature does not like to be called upon to repeat its words, again and again, in order to
meet the deaf man's infirmity. Jehovah thought of this, and provided for it. And what is
the provision? "Thou shalt fear thy God." When tried by a deaf person, remember the
Lord, and look to Him for Grace to enable you to govern your temper.

The second part of this statute reveals a most humiliating amount of wickedness in
human nature. The idea of laying a stumbling-block in the way of the blind, is about the
most wanton cruelty imaginable; and yet man is capable of it, else he world not be
warned against it. No doubt, this, as well as many other statutes, admits of a spiritual
application; but that in nowise interferes with the plain literal principle set forth in it.
Man is capable of placing a stumbling block in the way of a fellow-creature afflicted
with blindness. Such is man! Truly, the Lord knew what was in man when He wrote the
statutes and judgements of the Book of Leviticus.

I shall leave my reader to meditate alone upon the remainder of our section. He will find
that each statute teaches a double lesson—namely, a lesson with respect to nature's evil
tendencies, and also a lesson as to Jehovah's tender care.*
{*Verses 16 and 17 demand special attention. "Thou shalt not go up and down as a
talebearer among thy people." This is a most seasonable admonition for the people of
God, in every age. A talebearer is sure to do incalculable mischief. It has been well
remarked that a talebearer injures three persons—he injures himself, he injures his
hearer, and he injures the subject of his tale. this he does directly; and as to the indirect
consequences, who can recount them? Let us carefully guard against this horrible evil.
May we never suffer a tale to, pass our lips; and let us never stand to hearken to a
talebearer. May we always know how to drive away a backbiting tongue with an angry
countenance, as the north wind driveth away rain.

In verse 17, we learn what ought to take the place of tale bearing. "thou shalt in anywise
rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." In place of carrying to another a tale
about my neighbour, I am called upon to go directly to himself and rebuke him, if there is
anything wrong. This is the divine method. Satan's method is to act the talebearer.}

Leviticus 21—Leviticus 22.

These chapters unfold, with great minuteness of detail, the divine requirements in
reference to those who were privileged to draw near as priests to "offer the bread of their
God." In this, as in the preceding section, we have conduct as the result, not the procuring
cause of the relationship. This should be carefully borne in mind. The sons of Aaron
were, in virtue of their birth, priests unto God. They all stood in this relationship, one as
well as another. It was not a matter of attainment, a question of progress, something
which one had, and another had not. All the sons of Aaron were priests. They were born
into a priestly place. Their capacity to understand and enjoy their position and its
attendant privileges was, obviously, a different thing altogether. One might be a babe;
and another might have reached the point of mature and vigorous manhood. The former
would, of necessity, be unable to eat of the priestly food, being a babe for whom "milk"
and not" strong meat" was adapted: but he was as truly a member of the priestly house as
the man who could tread, with firm step, the courts of the Lord's house, and feed upon
"the wave breast" and "heave shoulder" of the sacrifice.

This distinction is easily understood in the case of the sons of Aaron, and, hence, it will
serve to illustrate, in a very simple manner, the truth as to the members of the true
priestly house over which our Great High Priest presides, and to which all true believers
belong. (Heb. 3: 6) Every child of God is a priest. He is enrolled as a member of Christ's
priestly house. He may be very ignorant; but his position, as a priest, is not founded upon
knowledge, but upon life. His experience may be very shallow; but his place as a priest
does not depend upon experience, but upon life. His capacity may be very limited; but his
relationship as a priest does not rest upon an enlarged capacity, but upon life. He was
born into the position and relationship of a priest. He did not work himself thereinto. It
was not by any efforts of his own that he became a priest. He became a priest by birth.
The spiritual priesthood, together with all the spiritual functions attaching thereunto, is
the necessary appendage to spiritual birth. The capacity to enjoy the privileges and to
discharge the functions of a position must not be confounded with the position itself.
They must ever be kept distinct. relationship is one thing; capacity is quite another.

Furthermore, in looking at the family of Aaron, we see that nothing could break the
relationship between him and his sons. There were many things which would interfere
with the full enjoyment of the privileges attaching to the relationship, A son of Aaron
might "defile himself by the dead." He might defile himself by forming an unholy
alliance. He might have some bodily "blemish." He might be "blind or lame."' He might
be "a dwarf." Any of these things would have interfered, very materially, with his
enjoyment of the privileges, and his discharge of the functions pertaining to his
relationship, as we read, "No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall
come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish: he shall not
come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the
most holy and the holy; only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar,
because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify
them." (Lev. 21: 21-23) But none of these things could possibly touch the fact of a
relationship founded upon the established principles of human nature. Though a son of
Aaron were a dwarf, that dwarf was a son of Aaron. True, he was, as a dwarf, shorn of
many precious privileges and lofty dignities pertaining to the priesthood; but he was a
son of Aaron all the while. He could neither enjoy the same measure or character of
communion, nor yet discharge the same elevated functions of priestly Service, as one
who had reached to manhood's appointed stature; but he was a member of the priestly
house, and, as such, permitted to "eat the bread of his God." The relationship was
genuine, though the development was so defective.

The spiritual application of all this is as simple as it is practical. To be a child of God, is
one thing; to be in the enjoyment of priestly communion and priestly worship, is quite
another. The latter is, alas! interfered with by many things. Circumstances and
associations are allowed to act upon us by their defiling influence. We are not to suppose
that all Christians enjoy the same elevation of walk, the same intimacy of fellowship, the
same felt nearness to Christ. Alas! alas! they do not. Many of us have to mourn over our
spiritual defects. There is lameness of walk, defective vision, stunted growth; or we show
ourselves to be defiled by contact with evil, and to be weakened and hindered by
unhallowed associations. In a word, as the sons of Aaron, though being priests by birth,
were, nevertheless, deprived of many privileges through ceremonial defilement and
physical defects; so we, though being priests unto God, by spiritual birth, are deprived of
many of the high and holy privileges of our position, by moral defilement and spiritual
defects. We are shorn of many of our dignities through defective spiritual development.
We lack; singleness of eye, spiritual vigour, whole-hearted devotedness. Saved we are,
through the free grace of God, on the ground of Christ's perfect sacrifice. "We are all the
children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus;" but, then, salvation is one thing; communion is
quite another. Sonship is one thing; obedience is quite another.

These things should be carefully distinguished. The section before us illustrates the
distinction with great force and clearness. If one of the sons of Aaron happened to be
"broken-footed, or broken-handed," was he deprived of his sonship? Assuredly not. Was
he deprived of his priestly position? By no means. It was distinctly declared, "He shall eat
the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy." What, then, did he lose by
his physical blemish? He was forbidden to tread some of the higher walks of priestly
service and worship. "Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar."
These were very serious privations; and though it may be objected that a man could not
help many of these physical defects, that did not alter the matter. Jehovah could not have
a blemished priest at His altar, or a blemished sacrifice thereon. Both the priest and the
sacrifice should be perfect. "No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest
shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire." (Lev. 21: 22) "But
whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you."
(Lev. 22: 20)

Now, we have both the perfect priest, and the perfect sacrifice, in the Person of our
blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He, having "offered himself without spot to God," passed into
the heavens, as our great High Priest, where He ever liveth to make intercession for us.
The Epistle to the Hebrews dwells elaborately upon these two points. It throws into vivid
contrast the sacrifice and priesthood of the Mosaic system and the Sacrifice and
Priesthood of Christ. In Him we have divine perfectness, whether as the Victim or as the
Priest. We have all that God could require, and all that man could need. His precious
blood has put away all our sins; and His all-prevailing intercession ever maintains us in
all the perfectness of the place into which His blood has introduced us. "We are complete
in him;" (Col. 2); and yet, so feeble and so faltering are we in ourselves; so full of failure
and infirmity; so prone to err and stumble in our onward way, that we could not stand for
a moment, were it not that "He ever lives to make intercession for us." These things have
been dwelt upon in the earlier chapters of this volume; and it is, therefore, needless to
enter further upon them here. Those who have anything like correct apprehensions of the
grand foundation truths of Christianity, and any measure of experience in the Christian
life, will be able to understand how it is that, though "complete in him who is the head of
all principality and power, they, nevertheless, need, while down here amid the
infirmities, conflicts, and buffetings of earth, the powerful advocacy of their adorable and
divine High Priest. The believer is "washed, sanctified, and justified. (1 Cor. 6) He is
"accepted in the beloved." (Eph. 1. 6) He can never come into judgement, as regards his
person. (See John 5: 24, where the word is krisin and not katakrisin) Death and
judgement are behind him, because he is united to Christ who has passed through them
both, on his behalf and in his stead. All these things are divinely true of the very weakest,
most unlettered, and inexperienced member of the family of God; but yet, inasmuch as he
caries about with him a nature so incorrigibly bad, and so irremediably ruined, that no
discipline can correct it, and no medicine cure it, inasmuch as he is the tenant of a body
of sin and death—as he is surrounded, on all sides, by hostile influences—as he is called
to cope, perpetually, with the combined forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil—he
could never keep his ground, much less make progress, were he not upheld by the all-
prevailing intercession of his great High Priest, who bears the names of His people upon
His breast and upon His shoulder.

Some, I am aware, have found great difficulty in reconciling the idea of the believer's
perfect standing in Christ with the need of priesthood. "If," it is argued, "he is perfect,
what need has he of a priest?" The two things are as distinctly taught in the word as they
are compatible one with another, and understood in the experience of every rightly-
instructed Christian. It is of the very last importance to apprehend, with clearness and
accuracy, the perfect harmony between these two points. The believer is perfect in
Christ; but, in himself, he is a poor feeble creature, ever liable to fall. Hence, the
unspeakable blessedness of having One who can manage all his affairs for him, at the
right hand of the Majesty in the heavens—One who upholds him continually by the right
hand of His righteousness—One who will never let him go—One who is able to save to
the uttermost—One who is "the same yesterday, today, and for ever"—One who will bear
him triumphantly through all the difficulties and dangers which surround him; and,
finally, "present him faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."
Blessed for ever be the grace that has made such ample provision for all our need in the
blood of a Spotless Victim and the intercession of a divine High Priest!

Dear christian reader, let it be our care so to walk, so to "keep ourselves unspotted from
the world," so to stand apart from all unhallowed associations, that we may enjoy the
highest privileges and discharge the most elevated functions of our position as members
of the priestly house of which Christ is the Head. We have "boldness to enter into the
holiest, through the blood of Jesus"—"we have a great High Priest over the house of
God." (Heb. 10) Nothing can ever rob us of these privileges. But, then, our communion
may be marred—our worship may be hindered—our holy functions may remain
undischarged. Those ceremonial matters against which the sons of Aaron were warned,
in the section before us, have their antitypes in the Christian economy. Had they to be
warned against unholy contact? So have we. Had they to be warned against unholy
alliance? So have we. Had they to be warned against all manner of ceremonial
uncleanness? So have we to be warned against "all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." (1
Cor. 7) Were they shorn of many of their loftiest priestly privileges by bodily blemish and
imperfect natural growth! So are we, by moral blemish, and imperfect spiritual growth.

Will any one venture to call in question the practical importance of such principles as
these? Is it not obvious that the more highly we estimate the blessings which attach to
that priestly house of which we have been constituted members, in virtue of our spiritual
birth, the more carefully shall we guard against everything which might tend in any wise,
to rob us of their enjoyment? Undoubtedly. And this it is which renders the close study of
our section so pre-eminently practical. May we feel its power, through the application of
God the Holy Ghost! Then shall we enjoy our priestly place. Then shall we faithfully
discharge our priestly functions. We shall be able "to present our bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God." (Rom. 12: 1) We shall be able to "offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name." (Heb.
13: 15) We shall be able, as members of the "spiritual house" and the "holy priesthood,"
to "offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2: 5) We
shall be able, in some small degree, to anticipate that blissful time when, from a
redeemed creation, the hallelujahs of intelligent and fervent praise shall ascend to the
throne of God and the Lamb throughout the everlasting ages.

Leviticus 23.

One of the most profound and comprehensive chapters in the inspired volume now lies
open before us, and claims our prayerful study. It contains the record of the seven great
feasts or periodical solemnities into which Israel's year was divided. In other words, it
furnishes us with a perfect view of God's dealings with Israel, during the entire period of
their most eventful history.

Looking at the feasts separately, we have the Sabbath, the Passover, the feast of
unleavened bread, the first-fruits, Pentecost, the feast of trumpets, the day of atonement,
and the feast of tabernacles. This would make eight, altogether; but it is very obvious that
the Sabbath occupies quite a unique and independent place. It is first presented, and its
proper characteristics and attendant circumstances fully set forth; and then, we read
"These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in
their seasons." (Ver. 4) so that, strictly speaking, as the attentive reader will observe,
Israel's first great feast was the Passover, and their seventh was the feast of tabernacles.
That is to say, divesting them of their typical dress, we have, full, redemption; and, last of
all, we have the millennial glory. The paschal lamb typified the death of Christ; (1 Cor. 5:
7;) and the feast of tabernacles typified "the times of the restitution of all things, of which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began." (Acts 3:
21)

Such was the opening and such the closing feast of the Jewish year. Atonement is the
foundation, glory the top-stone; while, between these two points, we have the
resurrection of Christ, (ver. 10-14,) the gathering of the Church, (ver 15-21,) the waking
up of Israel to a sense of their long-lost glory, (ver. 24-25) their repentance and hearty
reception of their Messiah. (Ver. 27-32.) And that not one feature might be lacking in this
grand typical representation, we have provision made for the Gentiles to come in at the
close of the harvest, and glean in Israel's fields. (Ver. 22.) All this renders the picture
divinely perfect, and evokes from the heart of every lover of Scripture the most intense
admiration. What could? be more complete? The blood of the Lamb and practical
holiness founded thereon—the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and His ascension
into heaven—the descent of the Holy Ghost, in Pentecostal power, to form the Church—
the awakening of the remnant—their repentance and restoration—the blessing of "the
poor and the stranger"—the manifestation of the glory—the rest and blessedness of the
kingdom. Such are the contents of this truly marvellous chapter, which we shall, now,
proceed to examine in detail. May God the Holy Ghost be our Teacher!

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations,
even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath
of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in
all your dwellings." The place which the Sabbath here gets is full of interest. The Lord is
about to furnish a type of all His dealings in grace with His people; and, ere He does so,
He sets forth the Sabbath as the significant expression of that rest which remaineth for
the people of God. It was an actual solemnity, to be observed by Israel; but it was also a
type of what is yet to be, when all that great and glorious work which this chapter
foreshadows shall have been accomplished. It is God's rest, into which all who believe
can enter now in spirit; but which, as to its full and actual accomplishment, yet remains.
(Heb. 4) we work now. We shall rest by and by. In one sense, the believer enters into rest;
in another sense, he labours to enter into it. He has found his rest in Christ; he labours to
enter into his rest in glory. He has found his full mental repose in what Christ has
wrought for him, and his eye rests on that everlasting Sabbath upon which he shall enter
when all his desert toils and conflicts are over. He cannot rest in the midst of a scene of
sin and wretchedness. "He rests in Christ, the Son of God, who took the servant's form."
And, while thus resting, he is called to labour as a worker together with God, in the full
assurance that, when all his toil is over, he shall enjoy unbroken, eternal repose in those
mansions of unfading light and unalloyed blessedness where labour and sorrow can never
enter. Blessed prospect! May it brighten more and more each hour in the vision of faith!
May we labour all the more earnestly and faithfully, as being sure of this most precious
rest at the end! True, there are foretastes of the eternal Sabbath; but these foretastes only
cause us to long more ardently for the blessed reality—that Sabbath which shall never be
broken—that "holy convocation" which shall never be dissolved.

We have already remarked that the Sabbath occupies quite a unique and independent
place in this chapter. This is evident from the wording of the fourth verse, where the Lord
seems to begin afresh with the expression, "These are the feasts of the Lord," as if to
leave the Sabbath quite distinct from the seven feasts which follow, though it be, in
reality, the type of that rest to which those feasts so blessedly introduce the soul.

"These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in
their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's Passover."
(Ver. 4, 5) Here, then, we have the first of the seven periodical solemnities—the offering
of that paschal lamb whose blood it was that screened the Israel of God from the sword
of the destroying angel, on that terrible night when Egypt's firstborn were laid low. This
is the acknowledged type of the death of Christ; and, hence, its place in this chapter is
divinely appropriate. It forms the foundation of all. We can know nothing of rest, nothing
of holiness, nothing of fellowship, save on the ground of the death of Christ. It is
peculiarly striking, significant, and beautiful to observe that, directly God's rest is spoken
of, the next thing introduced is the blood of the paschal lamb. As much as to say, "There
is the rest, but here is your title." No doubt, labour will capacitate us, but it is the blood
that entitles us to enjoy the rest.

"And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the
Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened breed. In the first day ye shall have an holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by
fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no
servile work therein." (Ver. 6-8.) The people are here assembled round Jehovah, in that
practical holiness which is founded upon accomplished redemption; and, while thus
assembled, the fragrant odour of the sacrifice ascends from the altar of Israel to the
throne of Israel's God. This gives us a fine view of that holiness which God looks for in
the life of His redeemed. It is based upon the sacrifice, and it ascends in immediate
connection with the acceptable fragrance of the Person of Christ. "Ye shall do no servile
work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire." What a contrast! The servile
work of man's hands, and the sweet savour of Christ's sacrifice! The practical holiness of
God's people is not servile labour. It is the living unfolding of Christ, through them, by
the power of the Holy Ghost. "To me to live is Christ." This is the true idea. Christ is our
life; and every exhibition of that life is, in the divine judgement, redolent with all the
fragrance of Christ. It may be a very trifling matter, in man's judgement; but, in so far as
it is the outflow of Christ our life, it is unspeakably precious to God. It ascends to Him
and can never be forgotten. "The fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ" are
produced in the life of the believer, and no power of earth or hell can prevent their
fragrance ascending to the throne of God.

It is needful to ponder deeply the contrast between "servile work," and the outflow of the
life of Christ. The type is very vivid. There was a total cessation of manual labour
throughout the whole assembly; but the sweet savour of the burnt offering ascended to
God. These were to be the two grand characteristics of the feast of unleavened bread.
Man's labour ceased, and the odour of the sacrifice ascended; and this was the type of a
believer's life of practical holiness. What a triumphant answer is here to the legalist, on
the one side, and the antinomian on the other! The former is silenced by the words, "no
servile work;" and the latter is confounded by the words, "Ye shall offer an offering made
by fire." The most elaborate works of man's hands are "servile; "but the smallest cluster
of "the fruits of righteousness" is to the glory and praise of God. Throughout the entire
period of the believer's life, there must be no servile work; nothing of the hateful and
degrading element of legality. There should be only the continual presentation of the life
of Christ, brought out and exhibited by the power of the Holy Ghost. Throughout the
"seven days" of Israel's second great periodical solemnity, there was to be "no leaven;"
but, instead thereof, the sweet savour of "an offering made by fire" was to be presented to
the Lord. May we fully enter into the practical teaching of this most striking and
instructive type!

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest
thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest; and
ye shall wave the sheaf Before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the
Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day, when ye wave the sheaf, an
the lamb without blemish of the first year, for a burnt offering unto the Lord. And the
meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering
made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of
wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor
green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall
be a statute for ever throughout your generations, in all your dwellings." (Ver. 9-14)

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." (1
Cor. 15: 20) The beautiful ordinance of the presentation of the sheaf of first fruits typify
the resurrection of Christ, who, "at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week," rose triumphant from the tomb, having accomplished the glorious
work of redemption. His was a "resurrection from among the dead;" and, in it, we have, at
once, the earnest and the type of the resurrection of His people. "Christ the first fruits;
afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming." When Christ comes, His people will be
raised from among the dead;" (ek nekrwn) that is those of them that sleep in Jesus. "But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." (Rev. 20: 5)
When, immediately after the transfiguration, our blessed Lord spoke of His rising "from
among the dead," the disciples questioned among themselves what that could mean. (See
Mark 9) Every orthodox Jew believed in the doctrine of the "resurrection of the dead,"
(anastasis nekrwn) But the idea of a "resurrection from among the dead," (anastasis
ek nekrwn) was what the disciples were unable to grasp and, no doubt, many disciples
since then have felt considerable difficulty with respect to a mystery so profound.

However, if my reader will prayerfully study and compare 1 Cor. 15 with 1 Thess. 4: 13-
18, he will get much precious instruction upon this most interesting and practical truth.
He can also look at Romans 8: 11, in connection. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead (ek nekrwn) dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." From all these
passages it will be seen that the resurrection of the Church will be upon precisely the
same principle as the resurrection of Christ. Both the Head and the body are shown to be
raised "from among the dead." The first sheaf and all the sheaves that follow after are
morally connected.

It must be evident to any one who carefully ponders the subject, in the light of scripture,
that there is a very material difference between the resurrection of the believer and the
resurrection of the unbeliever. Both shall be raised; but Revelation 20: 5, proves that
there will be a thousand years between the two, so that they differ both as to the
principle, and as to the time. Some have found difficulty, in reference to this subject,
from the fact that, in John 5: 28, our Lord speaks of "the hour in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear his voice." "How," it may be asked, "can there be a thousand years
between the two resurrections when both are spoken of as occurring in an 'hour'?" The
answer is very simple. In verse 28, the quickening of dead souls is spoken of as occurring
in an "hour;" and this work has been going on for over eighteen hundred years. Now, if a
period of nearly two thousand years can be represented by the word "hour," what
objection can there be to the idea of one thousand years being represented in the same
way? Surely, none whatever, especially when it is expressly stated that "the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."

But, furthermore, when we find mention made of "a first resurrection," is it not evident
that all are not to be raised together? Why speak of a "first" if there is but the one? It may
be said that "the first resurrection" refers to the soul; but where is the scripture warrant
for such a statement? The solemn fact is this: when the "shout of the archangel and the
trump of God" shall be heard, the redeemed who sleep in Jesus will be raised to meet
Him in the glory. The wicked dead, whoever they be, from the days of Cain down, will
remain in their graves, during the thousand years of millennial blessedness; and, at the
close of that bright and blissful period, they shall come forth and stand before "the great
white throne," there to be "judged every man according to his works," and to pass from
the throne of judgement into the lake of fire. Appalling thought!

Oh! reader, how is it in reference to your precious soul Have you seen, by the eye of
faith, the blood of the paschal Lamb shed to screen you from this terrible hour? Have you
seen the precious sheaf of firstfruits reaped and gathered into the heavenly garner, as the
earnest of your being gathered in due time? These are solemn questions, deeply solemn.
Do not put them aside. See that you are, now, under the cover of the blood of Jesus.
Remember, you cannot glean so much as a single ear in the fields of redemption until you
have seen the true sheaf waved before the Lord. "Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched
corn, nor green ears, until the self-same day that ye have brought an offering unto your
God." The harvest could not be touched until the sheaf of first fruits had been presented,
and, with the sheaf, a burnt offering and a meat offering.

"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye
brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the
morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new
meat offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves, of
two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the
firstfruits unto the Lord." (Ver. 15-17) This is the feast of Pentecost—the type of God's
people, gathered by the Holy Ghost, and presented before Him, in connection with all the
preciousness of Christ. In the Passover, we have the death of Christ; in the sheaf of first
fruits, we have the resurrection of Christ; and in the feast of Pentecost, we have the
descent of the Holy Ghost to form the Church. All this is divinely perfect. The death and
resurrection of Christ had to be accomplished, ere the Church could be formed. The sheaf
was offered and then the loaves were baked.

And, observe, "They shall be baken with leaven." Why was this? Because they were
intended to foreshadow those who, though filled with the Holy Ghost, and adorned with
His gifts and graces, had, nevertheless, evil dwelling in them. The assembly, on the day
of Pentecost, stood in the full value of the blood of Christ, was crowned with the gifts of
the Holy ghost; but there was leaven there also. No power of the Spirit could do away
with the fact that there was evil dwelling in the people of God. It might be suppressed
and kept out of view; but it was there. This fact is foreshadowed in the type, by the
leaven in the two loaves; and it is set forth in the actual history of the Church; for, albeit
God the Holy Ghost was present in the assembly, the flesh was there likewise to lie unto
Him. Flesh is flesh, nor can it ever be made ought else than flesh. The Holy Ghost did not
come down, on the day of Pentecost, to improve nature or do away with the fact of its
incurable evil, but to baptise believers into one body, and connect them with their living
Head in heaven.

Allusion has already been made, in the chapter on the peace offering, to the fact that
leaven was permitted in connection therewith. It was the divine recognition of the evil in
the worshipper. Thus is it also in the ordinance of the "two wave loaves;" they were to be
"baken with leaven," because of the evil in the antitype.

But, blessed be God, the evil which was divinely recognised was divinely provided for.
This gives great rest and comfort to the heart. It is a comfort to be assured that God
knows the worst of us; and, moreover, that He has made provision according to His
knowledge, and not merely according to ours. "And ye shall offer with the bread, seven
lambs without blemish, of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams; they shall
be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering and their drink offerings,
even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. (Ver. 18) Here, then, we
have, in immediate connection with the leavened loaves, the presentation of an
unblemished sacrifice, typifying the great and all-important truth that it is Christ's
perfectness and not our sinfulness that is ever before the view of God. Observe,
particularly, the words, "ye shall offer with the bread, seven lambs without blemish."
Precious truth! Deeply precious, though clothed in typic dress! May the reader be enabled
to enter into it, to make his own of it, to stay his conscience upon it, to feed and refresh
his heart with it, to delight his whole soul in it. Not I, but Christ.

It may, however, be objected that the fact of Christ's being a spotless lamb is not
sufficient to roll the burden of guilt from a sin-stained conscience—a sweet-savour
offering would not, of itself, avail for a guilty sinner. This objection might be urged; but
our type fully meets and entirely removes it. It is quite true that a burnt offering would
not have been sufficient where "leaven "was in question; and hence we read, "Then ye
shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a
sacrifice of peace offerings." (Ver. 19) The "sin offering" was the answer to the "leaven"
in the loaves—"peace" was established, so that communion could be enjoyed, and all
went up in immediate connection with the "sweet savour" of the "burnt offering" unto the
Lord.

Thus, on the day of Pentecost, the church was presented, in all the value and excellency
of Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Though having in itself the leaven of the
old nature, that leaven was not reckoned, because the divine Sin Offering had perfectly
answered for it. The power of the Holy Ghost did not remove the leaven, but the blood of
the Lamb had atoned for it. This is a most interesting and important distinction. The work
of the Spirit in the believer does not remove indwelling evil. It enables him to detect,
judge, and subdue the evil; but no amount of spiritual power can do away with the fact
that the evil is there—though, blessed be God, the conscience is at perfect ease, inasmuch
as the blood of our Sin Offering has eternally settled the whole question; and, therefore,
instead of our evil being under the eye of God, it has been put out of sight for ever, and
we are accepted in all the acceptableness of Christ, who offered Himself to God as a
sweet-smelling sacrifice, that He might perfectly glorify Him in all things, and be the
food of His people for ever.

Thus much as to Pentecost—after which a long; period is entered to roll on ere we have
any movement amongst the people. there is, however, the notice of "the poor and
stranger" in that beautiful ordinance which has already been referred to in its moral
aspect. Here we may look at it in a dispensational point of view. "And when ye reap the
harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when
thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest; thou shalt leave them
unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God." (Ver. 22) Provision is here
made for the stranger to glean in Israel's fields. The Gentile is to be brought in to
participate in the overflowing goodness of God. When Israel's storehouse and winepress
have been fully furnished, there will be precious sheaves and rich clusters for the Gentile
to gather.

We are not, however, to suppose that the spiritual blessings with which the Church is
endowed in the heavenlies with Christ are set forth under the figure of a stranger gleaning
in Israel's fields. These blessings are as new to the seed of Abraham as they are to the
Gentile. They are not the gleanings of Canaan, but the glories of heaven—the glories of
Christ. The Church is not merely blessed by Christ, but with and in Christ. The bride of
Christ will not be sent forth to gather up, as a stranger, the sheaves and clusters in the
corners of Israel's fields, and from the branches of Israel's vines. No; she tastes of higher
blessings, richer joys, nobler dignities, than ought that Israel ever knew. She is not to
glean as a stranger on earth, but to enjoy her own wealthy and happy home in heaven to
which she belongs. This is the "better thing" which God hath, in His manifold wisdom
and grace, "reserved" for her. No doubt, it will be a gracious privilege for "the stranger"
to be permitted to glean after Israel's harvest is reaped; but the church's portion is
incomparably higher, even to be the bride of Israel's king, the partner of His throne, the
sharer of His joys, His dignities, and His glories; to be like Him, and with Him, for ever.
The eternal mansions of the Father's house on high, and not the ungleaned corners of
Israel's fields below, are to be the church's portion. May we ever bear this in mind, and
live, in some small degree, worthy of such a holy and elevated destination!

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the
seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of
blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work; but ye shall offer
an offering made by fire unto the Lord." (Ver. 23-25) A new subject is introduced here,
by the words, "the Lord spake unto Moses," which, let me remark in passing, affords an
interesting help in classifying the subjects of the entire chapter. Thus, the Sabbath, the
Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread, are given under the first communication.
The wave sheaf, the wave loaves, and the ungleaned corners, are given under the second;
after which we have a long unnoticed interval, and then comes the soul-stirring feast of
trumpets, on the first day of the seventh month. This ordinance leads us on to the time,
now fast approaching, when the remnant of Israel shall "blow up the trumpet" for a
memorial, calling to remembrance their long-lost glory, and stirring up themselves to
seek the Lord.

The feast of trumpets is intimately connected with another great solemnity, namely, "the
day of atonement." "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of
atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and
offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day;
for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God . . . .
. it shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of
the month at even, from even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." (Ver. 27-32)
Thus, after the blowing of the trumpets, an interval of eight days elapses, and then we
have the day of atonement, with which these things are connected, namely, affliction of
soul, atonement for sin, and rest from labour. All these things will find their due place in
the experience of the Jewish remnant, by and by. "The harvest is past, the summer is
ended, and we are not saved." (Jer. 8: 20) such will be the pathetic lament of the remnant
when the Spirit of God shall have begun to touch their heart and conscience. "And they
shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall Be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for her firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every
family apart," &c. (Zech. 12: 10-14)

What deep mourning, what intense affliction, what genuine penitence there will be,
when, under the mighty action of the Holy Ghost, the conscience of the remnant shall
recall the sins of the past, the neglect of the Sabbath, the breach of the law, the stoning of
the prophets, the piercing of the Son, the resistance of the Spirit! All these things will
come in array on the tablets of an enlightened and exercised conscience, and produce
keen affliction of soul.

But the blood of atonement will meet all. "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to
the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness."
(Zech. 13: 1) They will be made to feel their guilt and be afflicted, and they will also be
led to see the efficacy of the blood and perfect peace—a sabbath of rest unto their souls.

Now, when such results shall have been reached, in the experience of Israel, in the latter
day, for what should we look? Surely, THE GLORY. When the "blindness" is removed,
and The veil is taken away, when the heart of the remnant is turned to Jehovah, then shall
the bright beams of the "Sun of righteousness" fall, in healing, restoring, and saving
power upon a truly penitent, afflicted, and poor people. To enter elaborately upon this
subject would demand a volume in itself. The exercises, the experiences, the conflicts,
the trials, the difficulties, and the ultimate blessings of the Jewish remnant are fully
detailed throughout the Psalms and Prophets. The existence of such a body must be
clearly seen, ere the Psalms and Prophets can be studied with intelligence and
satisfaction. Not but that we may learn much from those portions of inspiration, for "all
scripture is profitable." But the surest way to make a right use of any portion of the Word
of God, is to understand its primary application.. If, then, we apply scriptures to the
Church or heavenly body which belong, strictly speaking, to the Jewish remnant or
earthly body, we must be involved in serious error as to both the one and the other. In
point of fact, it happens, in many cases, that the existence of such a body as the remnant
is completely ignored, and the true position and hope of the Church are entirely lost sight
of. These are grave errors which my reader should sedulously seek to avoid. Let him not
suppose, for a moment, that they are mere speculations fitted only to engage the attention
of the curious, and possessing no practical power whatever. There could not be a more
erroneous supposition. What! is it of no practical value to us to know whether we belong
to earth or heaven? Is it of no real moment to us to know whether we shall be at rest in
the mansions above, or passing through the apocalyptic judgements down here? Who
could admit ought so unreasonable? The truth is, it would be difficult to fix on any line of
truth more practical than that which unfolds the distinctive destinies of the earthly
remnant and the heavenly Church. I shall not pursue the subject further, here; but the
reader will find it well worthy of his calm and prayerful study. We shall close this section
with a view of the feast of tabernacles—the last solemnity of the Jewish year.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The
fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto
the Lord . . . . . .Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in
the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall
be a Sabbath, and on the eighth shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day
the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. And ye
shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year: it shall be a statute for ever in
your generations; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths
seven days: all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths; that your generations may
know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the
land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." (Ver. 33-43)

This feast points us forward to the time of Israel's glory in the latter day, and, therefore, it
forms a most lovely and appropriate close to the whole series of feasts. The harvest was
gathered in, all was done, the storehouses were amply furnished, and Jehovah would have
His people to give expression to their festive joy. But, alas! they seem to have had but
little heart to enter into the divine thought in reference to this most delightful ordinance.
They lost sight of the fact that they had been strangers and pilgrims, and hence their long
neglect of this feast. From the days of Joshua down to the time of Nehemiah, the feast of
tabernacles had never once been celebrated. It was reserved for the feeble remnant that
returned from the Babylonish captivity to do what had not been done even in the bright
days of Solomon. "And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the
captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of
Nun, unto that day, had not the children of Israel done so. and there was very great
gladness." (Neh. 8: 17) How refreshing it must have been to those who had hung their
harps on the willows of Babylon, to find themselves beneath the shade of the willows of
Canaan! It was a sweet foretaste of that time of which the feast of tabernacles was the
type, when Israel's restored tribes shall repose within those millennial bowers which the
faithful hand of Jehovah will erect for them in the land which He sware to give unto
Abraham and to his seed for ever. Thrice happy moment when the heavenly and the
earthly shall meet, as intimated, in "the first day" and "the eighth day" of the feast of
tabernacles! "The heavens shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn and the
wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel."

There is a fine passage in the last chapter of Zechariah which goes to prove, very
distinctly, that the true celebration of the feast of tabernacles belongs to the glory of the
latter day. "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which
came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord
of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." (Lev. 14: 16) What a scene! Who would
seek to rob it of its characteristic beauty by a vague system of interpretation falsely called
spiritualizing? Surely, Jerusalem means Jerusalem; nations mean nations; and the feast of
tabernacles means the feast of tabernacles. Is there anything incredible in this? Surely,
nothing save to man's reason which rejects all that lies beyond its narrow range. The feast
of tabernacles shall yet be celebrated in the land of Canaan, and the nations of the saved
shall go up thither to participate in its glorious and hallowed festivities. Jerusalem's
warfare shall then be accomplished, the roar of battle shall cease. The sword and the
spear shall be transformed into the implements of peaceful agriculture; Israel shall repose
beneath the refreshing shade of their vines and fig-trees; and all the earth shall rejoice in
the government of "the Prince of Peace." Such is the prospect presented in the unerring
pages of inspiration. The types foreshadow it; the prophets prophesy of it; faith believes
it; and hope anticipates it.

NOTE.—At the close of our chapter we read, "And Moses declared unto the children of
Israel the feasts of the Lord." This was their true character, their original title; but in the
Gospel of John, they are called "feasts of the Jews." They had long ceased to be Jehovah's
feasts. He was shut out. They did not want Him; and, hence, in John 7, when Jesus was
asked to go up to "the Jews' feast of tabernacles," He answered," My time is not yet
come;" and when He did go up it was "privately," to take His place outside of the whole
thing, and to call upon every thirsty soul to come unto Him and drink. There is a solemn
lesson in this. Divine institutions are speedily marred in the hands of man; but, oh! how
deeply blessed to know that the thirsty soul that feels the barrenness and drought
connected with a scene of empty religious formality, has only to flee to Jesus and drink
freely of His exhaustless springs, and so become a channel of blessing to others.

Leviticus 24.

There is very much to interest the spiritual mind in this brief section. We have seen in
chapter 23. the history of the dealings of God with Israel, from the offering up of the
Pascal Lamb, until the rest and glory of the millennial Kingdom. In the chapter now
before us, we have two grand ideas—namely, first, the unfailing record and memorial of
the twelve tribes, maintained before God, by the power of the Spirit, and the efficacy of
Christ's priesthood; and, secondly, the apostasy of Israel after the flesh, and divine
judgement executed thereon. It is the clear apprehension of the former that will enable us
to contemplate the latter.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring
unto thee pure oil olive, beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.
Without the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order
it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute for
ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the
Lord continually." (Ver. 1-4) The "pure oil" represents the grace of the Holy Spirit,
founded upon the work of Christ, as exhibited by the candlestick of "beaten gold." The
"olive" was pressed to yield the "oil," and the gold was "beaten" to form the candlestick.
In other words, the grace and light of the Spirit are founded upon the death of Christ, and
maintained, in clearness and power, by the priesthood of Christ. The golden lamp
diffused its light throughout the precincts of the sanctuary, during the dreary hours of
night, when darkness brooded over the nation a