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Jamaica, Defence of Baptist Churches in 286 Wilkinson, Rev. H., Journal of

THE SLAIN LAMB IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE.

BY REV. J. J. OWEN.

"And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain."

APOCALYPSE.

"GREAT is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Every statement descriptive of our Lord Jesus Christ deserves our devoutest attention. This is especially the case in reference to those symbolic representations which illustrate the nature and design of the awful transactions of calvary. The term LAMB is frequently applied to the Redeemer, not only to denote his perfect innocence, but in order to exhibit him as the great propitiatory sacrifice— the antitype of those victims which were offered under a former dispensation. “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." We cannot but admire the wisdom of the Supreme Intelligence in constituting a system of types to impress on the minds of men the necessity and importance of an atonement, and to pourtray the unparalleled achievements of the cross. It may be profitable, briefly to trace the analogy between some occurrences detailed in connection with the Jewish ritual and the character which the Lord Jesus sustains in the economy of redemption. This will throw light on the subject we propose discussing in this article. Out of many illustrative events which might be investigated, we shall select two.

Let us first notice the passover. The Israelites had sojourned in the land of Egypt for the long period of four hundred and thirty years, strangers in a foreign country, and exiled from the possessions of their fathers. The time however at length arrived, when Jehovah determined to restore them to their inheritance, and fulfil the solemn and gracious promises he had made. To prepare the way for the accomplishment of this glorious and merciful design, he commissioned his servants, Moses and Aaron, to wait upon Pharaoh, and in his name to demand the dismissal of the chosen nation. The imperious monarch refused submission to the mandate of heaven, and not only refused but loaded the Hebrews with still heavier VOL. 5.-N. S.

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burdens. Nine times did avenging justice visit Pharaoh and his people with the most direful judgments, and nine times were their hearts steeled against the plainest indications of a frowning Diety. Ultimately the destroying angel, received commission to pass, during the solemn stillness of the midnight hour, through the land of Egypt, and suddenly terminate the earthly career of the first-born of the people, from the heir apparent to the throne, to the most obscure within the monarch's dominions. But prior to the infliction of this appalling judgment, the Hebrews were commanded to slay a lamb and with a bunch of hyssop dipped in its blood to strike the lintel and two side posts of their doors, so that when the destroying angel passed through the land he might avoid those habitations. thus distinguished. It is scarcely possible not to recognise in this beautiful and interesting type a clear allusion to the interposition of the Son of God, who has shed his blood to deliver us from impending ruin. Have not the human family ever since the original apostacy been enslaved by the prince of the power of the air? Are they not led captive by him at his will? And where can be found the means of emancipation, but in the propitiatory stream which issued from the side of God's incarnate Son? There is no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved. And when the termination of the present dispensation arrives, and the angel swears by him that liveth for ever, that time shall be no longer-when the dead shall awake from the slumber of ages, and the living undergo a change of which we have now but feeble conceptions, how can we be preserved from the approaching storm of divine vengeance, and stand undismayed amid the war of conflicting elements, and the passing away of the visible heavens? Does not inspired truth furnish the clearest assurance that none shall escape then but those washed in the blood of Jesus? His atoning sacrifice will be the only passport to safety honour, and immortality. No station, however exalted-no abilities, however transcendant, can shield the criminal from the wrath of an angry God.

The other illustrative event to which we have referred, and which has a peculiar bearing on the appellation, "The Lamb of God," as applied to Jesus Christ, is that connected with the daily sacrifice. An account of this transaction is recorded in Exod. xxix. 38-42. "Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even-an offering made by fire unto the Lord This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." Here was a plain intimation that without shedding of blood there could be no remission. It is a remarkable fact that the Son of God, the great Antitype, was brought before Pilate at the very time that the sacrificial lamb was wont to be brought before the priest for the morning sacrifice, that is at the third hour of the day, or nine in the morning, and he expired on the cross at the ninth hour, or three in the afternoon, at the time of the offering up of the evening sacrifice; thus publicly testifying that there was no longer need of types and shadows, he himself being the sum and substance of them all, and a sacrifice which brought in everlasting righteousness, and which removed every obstacle to the salvation of perishing souls. These observations at once evince the propriety with which the Saviour is designated a "lamb." But the passage we have attached to this essay