SECTION V. PROOF-LEVITICAL SACRIFICES. a The distinction put on Abraham and his posterity by their being selected as the depositaries of certain peculiar privileges, is a striking circumstance in the providential development of God's purposes of grace. . It forms an era in the history of the species, and more particularly of the church. It pleased God to separate the family in question from the rest of mankind ; to appoint them laws peculiar to themselves; and so to situate them that they should have every opportunity of punctually observing the institutions of Jehovah. The prescription of these laws occurred about two thousand five hundred years from the creation of the world, and about fifteen hundred years before the advent of Christ. The laws themselves embraced everything respecting the civil and religious interests of the people; and among those of a religious nature, the law of sacrifice held a prominent place. This was not the first time that the rite in question was mentioned. We have seen that it was known to the church long before. And, indeed, the manner in which it is introduced, in the Levitical code, is no small confirmation of the view we have given, in the preceding section, of the divine origin of primitive sacrifice. It is not brought forward as a new thing, on which the authority of God is stamped for the first time. New regulations respecting the mode and the occasion of the rite are laid down, but the rite itself is not made the subject of any authoritative enactment. It is taken for granted that the rite exists, and that its divine authority is acknowledged and well understood' “ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto then If any man of you bring an offering unto the Loro ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of i 66 " herd and of the flock."* Such is the manner in which the Levitical institutes regarding sacrifice are introduced ; and it must be admitted to furnish a striking corroboration of the views of those who believe that the ordinance was not then appointed for the first time. It is not meant by these observations, to insinuate a doubt with respect to the divine authority of the sacrifices which existed under the law. That regulations were prescribed by Jehovah respecting the substance of which these sacrifices should consist, the qualifications they were required to possess, the mode in which they should be offered, and the occasions on which they were to be presented, is quite sufficient evidence that the rite itself possessed the sanction of divine authority. We are thus enabled to appeal to the nature and design of the Levitical sacrifices as a second argument in favor of the doctrine of Christ's atonement. This position, like that of which we have already disposed, admits of ample illustration. To perceive its force, it will be requisite to attend, in proper order, to these distinct statements :—that sacrifices were sanctioned by God as a part of the religious service of the Hebrews—that many of these sacrifices were unquestionably expiatory and vicarious in their nature—that they were in themselves incompetent to remove moral guilt—that they were designed to prefigure the sacrifice of Christ, and were actually fulfilled in him. If these statements are successfully established, it will not be possible to resist the inference that the death of the Son of God was a real and proper atonement for sin. I. Sacrifices formed an essential part of the divinely authorized religious services of the Jews. There can be no dispute on this point. The law was given on the first day of the first month of the second year after the deliverance from Egypt ; and the same year, on the arrival of the children of Ísrael at Kadesh-barnea, the Levitical priesthood was instituted, and every regulation connected with it laid down. No one who believes the Bible to be true, and * Lev. 1. 2. who takes the trouble to peruse the books of Exodus and Leviticus, can call in question the divine authority of the Jewish sacrifices. These sacrifices, however, were of various kinds. They are generally divided into bloody and unbloody. The latter were, strictly speaking, rather offerings than sacrifices; they consisted solely of vegetable substances, such as meal, bread, corn, oil, and frankincense; and were not admissible as sin-offerings, excepting in the case of persons so very poor as to be unable to provide an offering of two young pigeons or turtle doves. The bloody sacrifices again were partly stated and partly occasional. The occasional sacrifices were of four kinds :- Burntofferings, or holocausts, which were free-will offerings, devoted to God by the spontaneous act of the offerers ;* -Peace-offerings, which were presented in token of reconciliation to the Lord, either in the way of petition or of thanksgiving it --Sin-offerings, which were required for sins of ignorance, or sins contracted wilfully :I—and Tresspass-offerings, which were to be presented when a person was in doubt whether he had violated the law or not.§ The stated sacrifices were some of them daily ; some weekly ; some monthly; and some yearly. The daily sacrifices were to be offered morning and evening.Il The weekly sacrifices were to be presented on the Sabbath day, when the daily sacrifices were doubled. The monthly sacrifices occurred on occasion of the new moon. ** And there were four occasions on which annual sacrifices were appointed to be offered ;—at the feast of the passover, at the feast of pentecost, at the feast of tabernacles, and on the day of expiation.It All these sacrifices had the express sanction of God, as any one may easily satisfy himself, by looking into the laws divinely prescribed respecting them, recorded in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. II. It is not pretended that the Jewish sacrifices * Lev. i. 1, 10, 14; vi. 1-6. + Lev. iii. 1—6. | Lev. iv. 2–19. § Lev, vii. 1–10. Il Lev. vi. 8–19. | Num. xxviii. 9, 10. ** Num. xxviii. 11–14. 17 See Horne’s Introd. vol. iii. pp. 226–284. Also Dr. Winer's Bible Dict. cited by Dr. P. Smith. Disc. p. 239, &c. were, without exception, propitiatory; but certainly many of them were vicarious and expiatory in their nature. It is freely admitted that the unbloody offerings at the feasts of pentecost and tabernacles, were only eucharistical, commemorative, or impetratory; but it is presumed that all the bloody sacrifices were of the description above specified, involving a transference of guilt and substitution of punishment. With regard to the burnt-offering we read;-"If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish-and he shall PUT HIS HAND ON THE HEAD of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted FOR him, to make ATONEMENT For him."* With regard to the peace-offering:-"If his oblation be sacrifices of peace-offering.......he shall LAY HIS HAND UPON THE HEAD of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." With regard to the sin-offering:-"If the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance.......then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin.......and the elders of the congregation shall LAY THEIR HANDS UPON THE HEAD of the bullock before the Lord.......and the priest shall make an ATONEMENT for them, and it shall be forgiven them."‡ With regard to the trespass-offering:-"As the sinoffering is, so is the trespass-offering; there is one law for them: the priest that maketh ATONEMENT therewith shall have it." With regard to at least one of the sacrifices appointed to be offered on the occasion of the passover, we read:- "And one goat for a sinoffering, to make an ATONEMENT for you." With regard to that on the day of expiation there is no room to doubt:" 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." Many more + Lev, iv. 13-20. passages might be added, in which similar language is employed; but these may be deemed sufficient to establish the position, that the bloody sacrifices of the Jews were vicarious in their nature and import. We are aware of the objections that have been started against this view of the legal sacrifices; but they have all received the most triumphant refutation.* Indeed, let any one calmly consider the circumstances connected with the act of sacrificing the selection of the victim; the relation of the animal to the person for whom it was offered; its substitution in his stead; his confessing over it all his iniquities; the imposition. of hands on the head of the victim; its being actually slain and offered to God; let any impartial person candidly consider these circumstances, and say whether he can resist the inference that the sacrifice was regarded as a piacular substitute for the individual by whom it was brought to the altar. ness. The ceremony of the scape-goat in particular, merits attention in this connection. This sacred solemnity belonged to the annual day of expiation. It consisted in presenting to the Lord two goats, one of which was slain, and the other sent away alive into the wilderThe two animals together made but one offering, as the language of the statute expresses more than once; He shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel Two kids of the goats for a sINOFFERING. 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 scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement WITH HIM (i. e. together with the other goat) and to let him go for a scape-goat into the wilderness."+ Each contributed to the atonement, and both were essential to the perfection of the ceremony. Now, the imposition of hands on the animals, and the confession of sins which accompanied it, point out unequivocally that the sins of the people were understood to be transferred to the victim, and, by means of this substitute, expiated or taken away. "And Aaron shall * Magee, vol. i. pp. 354-366. + Lev. xvi. 5, 9, 10. |