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li. 7. 19.) Let my prayer come before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (Psal. cxli. 2.) Therefore will I offer the sacrifice of joy. (Psal. cxvi. 17.5 The sin of Judah, says Jeremiah, is graven upon the horns of your altars. (Jer. xvii. 1.) Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously; so will we render thee the calves of our lips. (Hos. xiv. 2.)" Nor are similar examples wanting in the New Testament, whose inspired authors, being educated in the Jewish religion, retain the same phraseology, which has enriched their writings with numerous beautiful and expressive allusions to the national sacrifices and ceremonies.

Michaelis classes the offerings prescribed to the Israelites under three general heads-namely, bloody offerings, or sacrifices strictly so called; unbloody offerings, or those taken only from the vegetable kingdom; and drink-offerings, or libations, which were a kind of accompaniment to the two preceding. We shall follow this classification, as enabling us to present to our readers the most compendious account of the Jewish sacrifices.

I. BLOODY OFFERINGS were sacrifices properly and strictly so called; by which we may understand the infliction of death on a living creature, generally by the effusion of its blood in a way of religious worship, and the presenting of this act to God as a supplication for the pardon of sin, and as a supposed mean of compensation for the insult and injury offered by sin to his majesty and government. Sacrifices have in all ages, and by almost every nation, been regarded as necessary to appease the divine anger, and to render the Deity propitious:2 but whether this universal notion derived its origin from divine revelation, or was suggested by conscious guilt and a dread of the divine displeasure, is a question that cannot be easily decided. It is, however, not improbable that it originated in the former, and prevailed under the influence of the latter. The Scripture account of sacrifices leads us to conclude, that they were instituted by divine appointment, immediately after the entrance of sin by the fall of Adam and Eve, to be a type or significant emblem of the great atonement or all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ.3 Accordingly we find Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, and others, offering sacrifices in the faith of the Messiah that was to be revealed; and the divine acceptance of their sacrifices is particularly recorded. This hypothesis, and this only, satisfactorily accounts for the early prevalence of religious sacrifices, not only among the worshippers of the true God, but also among Pagan idolaters.

lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Pet. i. 19.) Fur ther, it was a custom among nations contiguous to Judæa, and particularly among the Egyptians,5 to set a seal upon a victim that was deemed proper for sacrifice. With this custom the Jews could not be unacquainted; and it is possible that similar precautions were in use among themselves, especially as they were so strictly enjoined to have the sacrifices without spot and without blemish. To such a usage Jesus Christ is supposed to have alluded, when speaking of the sacrifice of himself, he says-Him hath God the Father SEALED. (John vi. 27. 51.) "Infinite justice found Jesus Christ to be without spot or blemish, and therefore sealed, pointed out and accepted him as a proper sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the whole world. Collate Heb. vii. 26-28. Eph. v. 27. 2 Pet. iii. 14., and especially Heb. ix. 13, 14. For, if the blood of BULLS and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself WITHOUT SPOT to God, purge your consciences from dead works 2"6 3. The victim thus chosen, being found immaculate, was led up to the altar by the person offering the sacrifice; who laid his hand upon its head, on which he leaned with all his strength; and, while the sacrifice was offering, said some particular prayers; and if several persons united in offering the same victim, they put their hands upon it in succession. (Lev. iv. 13-15.) By this imposition of hands the person presenting the victim acknowledged the sacrifice to be his own: that he loaded it with his iniquities; that he offered it as an atonement for his sins; that he was worthy of death because he had sinned, having forfeited his life by violating the law of God; and that he entreated God to accept the life of the innocent animal in the place of his own. In this respect the victims of the Old Testament were types of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God that TAKETH AWAY the sin of the world (John i. 29.), and on whom Jehovah in the fulness of time laid the iniquity of us all. (Isa. liii. 6. with 1 Pet. ii. 24.)

Further, in certain cases it was required that the victim should be one, on which never came yoke (Num. xix. 2. Deut. xxi. 3. 1 Sam. vi. 7.); because any animal which had been used for a common purpose was deemed improper to be offered in sacrifice to God.10

4. The animal thus conducted to the altar was next immolated, by cutting the throat and windpipe entirely through at one stroke; the blood being caught in a vessel, and sprinkled round about upon the altar. By this sprinkling the atonement was made, for the blood was the life of the beast, and it was always supposed that life went to redeem life. (Lev. i. 5-7.) The blood remaining after these aspersions was poured out at the foot of the altar, either all at once, or at different times, according to the nature of the sacrifice offered.

1. In all bloody sacrifices it was essential that the animals slaughtered should be clean; but it does not appear that all clean animals were to be offered indiscriminately. Fishes were not brought to the altar; and hence the Israelites are nowhere prohibited from eating their blood, but only that of birds and quadrupeds. (Lev. vii. 26.). It would seem that all clean birds might be offered (Lev. xiv. 4-7.), though the white bulls for their sacrifices, will materially explain the custom above The following account of the manner in which the Egyptians provided dove was the most common offering of this class. Of quad- alluded to:-"They sacrifice white bulls to Apis, and for that reason make rupeds, oxen, sheep, and goats were the only kinds which the following trial. If they find one black hair upon him, they consider were destined for the altar. No wild beasts were admissi-him as unclean. In order that they may know this with certainty, the priest appointed for this purpose views every part of the animal both ble: and hence comes the expression in the law of Moses standing and lying on the ground: after this, he draws out his tongue, to (Deut. xii. 15, 22. xv. 22.), It shall be eaten like the roe or the see if he be clean by certain signs; and in the last place he inspects the hart; by which he means to intimate that, in killing a beast, hairs of his tail, that he may be sure they are, as by nature they should be. If, after this search, the animal is found unblemished, he signifies it by all religious intention and all idea of sacrifice was to be tying a label to his horns; then, having applied wax, he seals it with his avoided.+

2. In the selection of the victims, the utmost care was taken to choose such only as were free from every blemish. Unless it were pure and immaculate, it was to be rejected, as a sacrifice unacceptable to Jehovah. (Lev. xxii. 22.) In a beautiful allusion to this circumstance, St. Paul beseeches Christians, by the mercies of God, to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is their reasonable service. (Rom. xii. 1.) Hence also Jesus Christ is styled

1 Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. pp. 216, 217.

a

2 To this notion of sacrifice our Saviour alluded in John xvi. 2. where he tells his disciples that such would be the enmity with which they should be pursued, that he who should kill them would be deemed to have slain a sacrifice highly acceptable to the Almighty-"He that killeth you shall think he doeth God service." In reference also to this notion of sacrifice, the apostle by a very beautiful and expressive figure represents Christ as loving us, and giving himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour. (Eph. v. 2.) Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. p. 218.

3 The divine origin of sacrifices is fully proved by Archbishop Magee, in his Discourses on the Atonement, vol. i. pp. 44-60. and vol. ii. pp. 2246. 184-189., and by Mr. Jeram in his Treatise on the Doctrine of the Atonement, pp. 90-292. Mr. Davison has argued on the contrary side in his Inquiry into the Origin of Sacrifice. (London, 1825. 8vo.) Mr. Faber has ably vindicated the divine origin of Sacrifices in a treatise published at London in 1827. 8vo.

Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 95

ring, and they lead him away, for it is death to sacrifice one of these ani. mals, unless he has been marked with such a seal." Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 38. vol. i. p. 113. edit. Oxon. Dr. A. Clarke, on John vi. 27.

This ceremony, it is proper to remark, was omitted in respect to the

turtle doves, and young pigeons, which were allowed to be offered in cer

tain cases.

The nature and mystical import of laying hands on the head of the

victim are largely considered by Archbishop Magee in his Discourses on the Atonement, vol. i. pp. 336-377. On the vicarious import of the Mosaic sacrifices, see Archbishop Magee's Discourses on the Atonement, vol. i. pp. 352–366.

10 The heathens, who appear to have borrowed much from the Hebrews, were very scrupulous in this particular. Neither the Greeks, nor the Romans (who had the same religion, and, consequently, the same sacrifices with the Greeks), nor indeed the Egyptians, would offer an animal in sacrifice that had been employed in agriculture. Just such a sacrifice as that prescribed here docs Diomede vow to offer to Pallas. Iliad, x. 291–294. in the very same words Nestor promises a similar sacrifice to Pallas, Odyss, iii. 382.

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Around the altar there was a kind of trench into which the ii. The PEACE-OFFERINGS (Lev. iii. 1.) were also freeblood fell; whence it was conveyed by subterraneous chan-will-offerings, in token of peace and reconciliation between nels into the brook Cedron. This altar, being very high, is God and man; they were either eucharistical, that is, offered considered by Lamy as a type of the cross to which our as thanksgivings for blessings received, or votive, that is, Saviour was fixed, and which he washed with his precious offered with prayers for the impetration of mercies. These blood. The victim being thus immolated, the skin was offerings consisted either of animals, or of bread or dough; stripped from the neck; its breast was opened; its bowels if the former, part of them was burnt upon the altar, espewere taken out, and the back bone was cleft. It was then cially all the fat, as an offering to the Lord; and the remainder divided into quarters; so that, both externally and internally, was to be eaten by the priest and the party offering. To it was fully exposed to view. To this custom of laying open this sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving St. Paul alludes in the victim, St. Paul has a very beautiful and emphatic allu- Heb. xiii. 15, 16. In this kind of sacrifices the victims sion in one of the most animated descriptions ever written, might be either male or female, provided they were without of the mighty effects produced by the preached Gospel. blemish. The parts of both, which were appropriated to the (Heb. iv. 12, 13.) The word of God is quick and powerful, priests and Levites, were called heave or wave offerings; besharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing cause they were heaved or lifted up towards heaven, and waved asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and to and fro, before they were eaten, in acknowledgment of is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither the goodness and kindness of God, and also in token of their is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; for all being consecrated to him. (Lev. iii. 1—6. Exod. xxix. 26, things are naked and OPENED to the eyes of him to whom we 27. Num. xviii. 24-28.) must give an account. Previously to laying the sacrifice on the altar, it was salted for the fire (Lev. ii. 13. Ezek. xliii. 24. Mark ix. 46.); the law prohibiting any thing to be offered there which was not salted: and according to the nature of the sacrifice, either the whole or part of the victim was consumed upon the altar, where the priests kept a fire perpetually burning.1

5. Before the building of the temple, sacrifices were offered at the door of the tabernacle; but after its erection it was not lawful to offer them elsewhere. (Deut. xii. 14.) This prohibition took from the Jews the liberty of sacrificing in any other place. The victims might indeed be slain in any part of the priest's court, but not without its precincts: and there they were also obliged to sacrifice the paschal lamb. All the victims were to be offered by daylight, and the blood was always to be sprinkled on the same day that they were slain; as it became polluted as soon as the sun was set. If, however, the sprinkling had been made in the daytime, the members and entrails of the victim might be consumed during the night. Subsequently to the time of Moses, indeed, altars were multiplied, but they fell under suspicion, although some of them, perhaps, were sacred to the worship of the true God. Nevertheless, on extraordinary occasions, some prophets, whose characters were above all suspicion, did offer sacrifices in other places than that prescribed by the Mosaic laws; as Samuel (1 Sam. xiii. 8-14. xvi. 1-5.), and Elijah. (1 Kings xviii. 21-40.)

The peace-offerings are in Hebrew termed by (SHELαMIM), from (SHaLaM), to complete or make whole: because, by these offerings that which was deficient was considered as being now made up; and that which was broken, viz. the covenant of God, by his creature's transgression, was supposed to be made whole: so that, after such an offering, the sincere and conscientious mind was authorized to consider itself as reconciled to God, and that it might lay confident hold on this covenant of peace. To this St. Paul alludes in that fine passage contained in Eph. ii. 14-19.

The appointed seasons and occasions of the peace-offering were, 1. At the consecration of a priest. (Exod. xxix. 1-37.) 2. At the expiration of the Nazarite vow. (Num. vi. 13-21.) 3. At the solemn dedication of the tabernacle and temple; and, 4. At the purification of a leper.

iii. SIN-OFFERINGS, in Hebrew termed on (CHATαAH), (from the word Non (CHATA) to miss the mark), were offered for sins committed through ignorance, or wilfully against knowledge; and which God always punished unless they were expiated. These offerings in general consisted of a sin-offering to God, and a burnt-offering, accompanied with restitution of damage (Lev. v. 2-19. vi. 1-7.), conformably to which our Lord requires previous reconciliation with an injured brother, including restitution, before the burntoffering or gift would be acceptable to God. (Matt. v. 23, 24.) St. Paul (Eph. v. 2.) terms Christ's giving himself for us an offering (i. e. a peace-offering), and a sacrifice or sin-offering 6. The sacrifices of the altar were, in general, called by to God for a sweet smelling savour. (Compare Lev. iv. 31.) the Hebrews Korbanim, that is, offerings or oblations to God, In warm climates nothing is more refreshing than fragrant from the Hebrew word karab, to approach or bring nigh. odours: and as, in the highly figurative language of the anThis term consequently denotes something brought nigh, in cient Hebrews, smelling is used to denote the perception of a order to be dedicated, or offered to God, to whom the person moral quality in another, God is said to smell a sweet savour offering thus had access in the way appointed by the law; from sacrifice, to signify that he perceived with pleasure the and, therefore, at the close of the enumeration of all offerings good disposition which the offerer expressed by such an act by fire it is added (Lev. vii. 37, 38.), This is the law.....of worship. When, therefore, the apostle tells us that Christ which the Lord commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day gave himself for us, an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice that he commanded the children of Israel to offer or bring nigh to God, he teaches us that Christ's sacrifice for us was highly their KORBANIM, that is, offerings or sacrifices of all sorts.2 acceptable to God, not only as a signal instance of obedience The Jewish fire-sacrifices were of three kinds; viz. to his Father's will, but also on account of its happy influi. The BURNT-OFFERINGS, or Holocausts, were free-will-ence in establishing the moral government of God. offerings wholly devoted to God, according to the primitive patriarchal usage. The man himself was to bring them before the Lord, and they were offered in the manner described in the preceding page. The victim to be offered was, according to the person's ability, a bullock without blemish, or a male of the sheep or goats, or a turtle-dove or pigeon. (Lev. i. 3. 10. 14.) If, however, he was too poor to bring either of these, he was to offer a mincha or meat-offering, of which an account is given in a subsequent page. The Jews esteemed the burnt-offering the most excellent of all their sacrifices, not only on account of its superior antiquity, but also because it was entirely consecrated to God. In allusion to this, St. Paul exhorts Christians to present their bodies, or their whole selves, a living sacrifice to God. (Rom. xii. 1.) The burnt-offerings are in Hebrew termed by (OLAH), which signifies to ascend; because this offering, as being wholly consumed, ascended, as it were, to God in smoke or vapour. It was a very expressive type of the sacrifice of Christ, as nothing less than his complete and full sacrifice could make atonement for the sins of the world.

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sacrifices offered for the purification of lepers, as well as of women after child-birth (Lev. xii. Luke ii. 24.), were reckoned among the sin-offerings, inasmuch as leprosy and the pains of child-bearing were considered as punishments for some particular sin; though both were accompanied by eucharistic sacrifices for the recovery of the persons offering them. Maimonides adds, that if the person who offered this sacrifice did not repent, and make public confession of his sins, he was not cleansed or purified by it.5

iv. The TRESPASS-OFFERINGS were made, where the party offering had just reason to doubt whether he had violated the law of God or not. (Lev. v. 17, 18.) They do not appear to have differed materially from sin-offerings. In both these kinds of sacrifices, the person who offered them placed his hands on the victim's head (if a sin-offering), and confessed his sin over it, and his trespass over the trespass-offering; saying, "I have sinned, I have done iniquity, I have trespassed, and have done thus and thus, and do return by repentance before thee, and with this I make atonement." The animal was then considered as vicariously bearing the

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sins of the person who brought it. In Isa. liii. 10. Jesus | xxx. 34-36. It was offered twice every day, morning and Christ is said to make his soul an offering for sin, evening, by the officiating priest, upon an altar of gold, where (ASHAM), the very word used in the law of Moses to denote a trespass-offering.

II. All the sacrifices were occasional, and had reference to individuals: but there were others which were national and regular, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, and Annual.

1. The Perpetual or Daily Sacrifice was a burnt-offering, consisting of two lambs, which were offered every day, morning and evening, at the third and ninth hours. (Exod. xxix. 38-40. Lev. vi. 9-18. Num. xxviii. 1-8.) They were burnt as holocausts, but by a small fire, that they might continue burning the longer. With each of these victims was offered a bread-offering and a drink-offering of strong wine. The morning sacrifice, according to the Jews, made atonement for the sins committed in the night, and the evening sacrifice expiated those committed during the day. This sacrifice was a daily expression of national as well as individual repentance, prayer, and thanksgiving.

2. The Weekly Sacrifice on every Sabbath-day was equal to the daily sacrifice, and was offered in addition to it. (Num. xxviii. 9, 10.)

3. The Monthly Sacrifice, on every new moon, or at the beginning of each month, consisted of two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, together with a kid for a sin-offering, and a suitable bread and drink offering. (Num. xxviii. 11-14.)

4. The Yearly Sacrifices were those offered on the great annual festivals, viz. (1.) The paschal lamb at the passover, which was celebrated at the commencement of the Jewish sacred year; (2.) On the day of pentecost, or day of firstfruits; (3.) On the new moon, or first day of the seventh month, which was the beginning of their civil year, or in-gathering of the fruits and vintage; and all these stated burnt-offerings were to be accompanied with a sin-offering of a goat, to show their insufficiency to "make the comers thereunto perfect" (Num. xxviii. Heb. x. 1.); (4.) Lastly, on the day of expiation, or great day of atonement. As a particular account is given of the solemn festivals in the following section, we proceed briefly to notice the second general class of sacrifice, viz.

no bloody sacrifice was to come, during which solemn rite the people prayed without in silence. (Luke i. 10.) But on the great day of expiation the high-priest himself took fire from the great altar in a golden censer; and, on descending thence, he received incense from one of the priests, which he offered on the golden altar. During such offering the people prayed silently without; and to this most solemn silence St. John alludes in Rev. viii. 1., where he says that there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. To this oblation of incense the Psalmist refers (cxli. 2.) in his devotions, and explains his meaning by his application of it: Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense." As the smoke and odour of this offering was wafted into the holy place, close by the veil of which stood the altar of incense, so do the prayers of the faithful ascend upwards and find admission to the highest heaven." (Acts x. 4.)

2. The VOLUNTARY or FREE OBLATIONS were either the fruits of promises or of vows; but the former were not considered so strictly obligatory as the latter, of which there were two kinds.

(1.) The vow of consecration, when any thing was devoted either for sacrifice or for the service of the temple, as wine, wood, salt, &c.; and

(2.) The vow of engagement, when persons engaged to do something that was not in itself unlawful, as not to eat of some particular meat, nor to wear some particular habits, not to drink wine, nor to cut their hair, &c. When the Jews made a vow, they made use of one of these two forms: "I charge myself with a burnt-offering;" or, "I charge myself with the price of this animal for a burnt-offering." Besides these they had other shorter forms; for instance, when they devoted all they had, they merely said, "All I have shalt be corban," that is, "I make an oblation of it to God." Among other false doctrines taught by the Pharisees, who were the depositaries of the sacred treasury, was this, that as soon as a person had pronounced to his father or mother this form of consecration or offering, Be it corban (that is, devoted), whatever of mine shall profit thee (Mark vii. 11.), he thereby consecrated all he had to God, and must not thenceforth do any thing for his indigent parents if they solicited support from him. With great reason, therefore, does Jesus Christ reproach them with having destroyed, by their tradi tion, not only the commandment of the law which enjoins children to honour their fathers and mothers, but also another divine precept, which, under the severest penalty, forbad that kind of dishonour which consists in contumelious words. (Mark vii. 9, 10. 13.) They, however, proceeded even further than this unnatural gloss; for, though the son did not directly give, or mean to give, any thing to God at IV. DRINK-OFFERINGS were an accompaniment to both that time, yet if he afterwards should repent of his rashness, bloody and unbloody sacrifices: they were never used sepa- and wish to supply them with any thing, what he had forrately, and consisted of wine, which appears to have been merly said precluded the possibility of doing so; for his propartly poured upon the brow of the victim in order to conse-perty became eventually devoted to God, and, according to crate it, and partly allotted to the priests, who drank it with the Pharisaic doctrine, the sacred treasury had a claim upon their portions of both these kinds of offerings. The Psalmist it, in preference to the parents. The words "be it corban,' shows how the use of drink-offerings degenerated amongst idolaters, who in their superstitious rage made use of the blood of living creatures, perhaps of men, in their libations. Their DRINK-OFFERINGS OF BLOOD, says he, will I not offer. (Psal. xvi. 4.)

III. The UNBLOODY SACRIFICES OF MEAT-OFFERINGS (Lev. ii.), which were taken solely from the vegetable kingdom. They consisted of meal, bread, cakes, ears of corn, and parched grain, with oil and frankincense prepared according to the divine command. Regularly they could not be presented as sin-offerings, except in the single case of the person who had sinned being so poor, that the offering of two young pigeons or two turtle doves exceeded his means. They were to be free from leaven or honey: but to all of them it was necessary to add pure salt, that is, saltpetre.

V Besides the various kinds of sacrifices above described, there were some oblations made by the Jews, consisting of incense, bread, and other things: which have been divided by Lamy into three sorts, viz. such as were ordinary or common; voluntary or free oblations; and such as were prescribed. 1. The ORDINARY OBLATIONS were,

(1.) The Shew-bread (Heb. bread of the face), which consisted of twelve loaves, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. They were placed hot, every Sabbath-day, by the priests, upon the golden table in the sanctuary, before the Lord; when they removed the stale loaves which had been exposed for the whole of the preceding week. The priests alone were to eat the bread thus removed. David, however, through necessity broke through this restriction (1 Sam. xxi. 3, 4.), God preferring mercy to sacrifice, or, in the collision of duties, allowing a positive to give way to a natural law. (Matt. xii. 7.)

(2.) Incense, consisting of several fragrant spices, prepared according to the instructions given to Moses in Exod.

1 Dr. A. Clarke on Exod xxix. 10.

or devoted, consequently implied an imprecation against himself, if he should ever afterwards bestow any thing for the relief of his parents: as if he should say to them," May I incur all the infamy of sacrilege and perjury if ever ye get any thing from me;" than which it is not easy to conceive of any thing spoken by a son to his parents more contemptuous or more barbarous, and therefore justly denominated xxxy, “ opprobrious language."4

66

3. The PRESCRIBED OBLATIONS were either first-fruits or tithes.

(1.) All the First-fruits, both of fruit and animals, were consecrated to God (Exod. xxii. 29. Num. xviii. 12, 13.

2 Sir Isaac Newton on the Apocalypse, p. 264. See also Woodhouse on

Rev. viii. 1. p. 199.

3 Jones on the Fig. Lang. of Script. Lect. iv. towards the close. "The prayer of faith," adds this learned and pious writer, "is acceptable to God, as the fragrance of incense is agreeable to the senses of man; and, spirit of this service is to be kept up at those times throughout all generaas the incense was offered twice a day, in the morning and evening, the tions. The prophet Malachi (upon a forced and erroneous interpretation of whose words alone the church of Rome has founded and defended the use of incense in her worship) foretold that it should be observed throughout the world (Mal. i. 11.), and in the Revelation we hear of this incense as now actually carried up and presented in heaven. (Rev. v. 8.) Happy are they who fulfil this service; and at the rising and going down of the sun send up this offering to heaven, as all Christians are supposed to do, at least twice in every day." Ibid. (Works, vol. iii. p. 66.)

Dr. Campbell's Translation of the Four Gospels, vol. ii. pp. 379-382. third edition. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 300.

Deut. xxvi. 2. Neh. x. 35, 36.);1 and the first-fruits of corn, wine, oil, and sheep's wool were offered for the use of the Levites. (Deut. xviii. 4.) The amount of this gift is not specified in the law of Moses, which leaves it entirely to the pleasure of the giver: the Talmudical writers, however, inform us, that liberal persons were accustomed to give the fortieth, and even the thirtieth; while such as were covetous or penurious gave only a sixtieth part. The first of these they called an oblation with a good eye, and the second an oblation with an evil eye. To this traditional saying our Lord is, by some learned men, supposed to have alluded in Matt. xx. 15. Among animals, the males only belong to God; and the Jews not only had a right, but were even obliged, to redeem them in the case of men and unclean animals, which could not be offered in sacrifice. These first-fruits were offered from the feast of pentecost until that of dedication, because after that time the fruits were neither so beautiful nor so good as before. Further, the Jews were prohibited from gathering in the harvest until they had offered to God the omer, that is, the new sheaf, which was presented the day after the great day of unleavened bread: neither were they allowed to bake any bread made of new corn until they had offered the new loaves upon the altar on the day of pentecost; without which all the corn was regarded as unclean and unholy. To this St. Paul alludes in Rom. xi. 16.; where he says, If the FIRST-FRUIT be holy, the lump also is holy. The presentation of the first-fruits was a solemn and festive ceremony. At the beginning of harvest, the sanhedrin deputed a number of priests to go into the fields and reap a handful of the first ripe corn; and these, attended by great crowds of people, went out of one of the gates of Jerusalem into the neighbouring corn-fields. The first-fruits thus reaped were carried with great pomp and universal rejoicing through the streets of Jerusalem to the temple. The Jewish writers say that an ox preceded them with gilded horns and an olive crown upon his head, and that a pipe played before them until they approached the city: on entering it they crowned the first-fruits, that is, exposed them to sight with as much pomp as they could, and the chief officers of the temple went out to meet them. They were then devoutly offered to God in grateful acknowledgment of his providential goodness in giving them the fruits of the earth. "These first-fruits, or handful of the first ripe grain, gave notice to all who beheld them that the general harvest would soon be gathered in. How beautiful and striking is St. Paul's allusion to this religious ceremony in that most censolatory and closely reasoned chapter, the fifteenth of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which, from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he argues and establishes the certainty of the general resurrection; and represents Christ as the first-fruits of a glorious and universal harvest of all the sleeping dead! Now is Christ risen, and become the FIRST-FRUITS of them that slept." (1 Cor. xv. 20.) The use which the apostle makes of this image is very extensive. "In the first place, the growing of grain from the earth where it was buried is an exact image of the resurrection of the body; for, as the one is sown, so is the other, and neither is quickened except it first die and be buried. Then the whole harvest, from its relation to the firstfruits, explains and ensures the order of our resurrection. For, is the sheaf of the first-fruits reaped? then is the whole harvest ready. Is Christ risen from the dead? then shall all rise in like manner. Is he accepted of God as a holy offering? then shall every sheaf that has grown up with him be taken from the earth and sanctified in its proper order: Christ, the FIRST-FRUITS, and afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming.2 (1 Cor. xv. 23.)

(2.) Besides the first-fruits, the Jews also paid the Tenths or Tithes of all they possessed. (Num. xviii. 21.) They were in general collected of all the produce of the earth (Lev. xxvii. 30. Deut. xiv. 22, 23. Neh. xiii. 5. 10.), but chiefly of corn, wine, and oil, and were rendered every year except the sabbatical year. When these tithes were paid, the owner of the fruits further gave another tenth part, which was carried up to Jerusalem, and eaten in the temple at offering feasts, as a sign of rejoicing and gratitude to God. These

From the Jewish custom of offering first-fruits to Jehovah, the hea thens borrowed a similar rite. See Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. xviii. c. 2. Horace, Sat. lib. ii. Sat. v. 12. Tibullus, Eleg. lib. i. El. i. 13. 2 Jones's Works, vol. iii. p. 64. Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. p. 307. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iii. pp. 146-149. Beausobre's Introd. to the New Test. (vol. iii. p. 200. of Bishop Watson's Collection of Tracts.) Dr. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. p. 981. vol. ii. pp. 184. 306, 307. folio edit. Lamy's Apparatus, vol. i. p. 204. Ikenii Antiq. Hebr. part i. c. 15. rp. 210-224. Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 287-292. Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. i. pp. 203-206.

are called second tithes. The Levites paid a tenth of the tithes they received to the priests. Lastly, there were tithes allotted to the poor, for whom there was also a corner left in every field, which it was not lawful to reap with the rest (Lev. xix. 9. Deut. xxiv. 19.); and they were likewise allowed such ears of corn, or grapes, as were dropped or scattered about, and the sheaves that might be accidentally forgotten in the field. Field-tithes might be redeemed by those who desired it, on paying one-fifth in addition: but all conversion of the tithes of cattle was prohibited. (Lev. xxvii. 32, 33.) The payment and appreciation of them Moses left to the consciences of the people, without subjecting them to judicial or sacerdotal visitations, but at the same time he did not prohibit the Levites from taking care that they duly received what was their own. The conscientious accuracy of the people, with respect to the second tithe, he secured merely by the declaration which they made every three years before God. From trifling articles he in no case required tithes; though we learn from the Gospel that the Pharisees affected to be scrupulously exact in paying tithes of every the least herb. (Matt. xxiii. 23.) If, however, a person had committed a trespass against the sanctuary, that is, had not paid the tithes of any particular things, and if, at any time afterwards, his conscience were awakened to a sense of his guilt, he had it in his power to make an atonement, without incurring any civil disgrace, by simply paying an additional fifth, with his tithe, and making a trespass-offering. (Lev. v. 14-16.)

The custom of giving tithes to the Deity existed long before the time of Moses. Thus Abraham gave to Melchisedek king of Salem (who was at the same time the priest of the Most High God) the tithe of all that he had taken from the enemy, when he returned from his expedition against the four kings who were in alliance with Chedorlaomer. (Gen. xiv. 20. And Jacob consecrated to God the tenth of all that he should acquire in Mesopotamia. (Gen. xxviii. 22.) The same custom obtained among various ancient nations, who devoted to their gods the tenth part of every thing they obtained.

VI. From the preceding sketch of the Jewish Sacrifices, we may strongly infer their FITNESS AND UTILITY.

According to the refined ideas of modern times animal sacrifices are a very absurd and savage mode of expressing and promoting devout sentiments and dispositions. But, if we steadily keep in view the genius and habits of ancient nations, and the special circumstances of the Hebrews, these objections will vanish; and the propriety as well as expediency of the Jewish institutions will forcibly appear.

"When the practice of sacrificing was first appointed, the use of letters was probably unknown: consequently, the mode of instruction by visible emblems or symbols was both indispensable and highly beneficial. In such a state of things, the offering of animal victims was made to answer for that more simple and rational devotion, which words are now happily fitted to express. When we consider sacrifices. with all their attendant rites, as appointed by God in orde to assist the religious instruction, improvement, and consola tion of man, we must conclude that the Most High would, in the first instance, clearly explain every part of this insti tution; otherwise it could not answer its proposed ends. Now, if the moral import of sacrifices were thus explained, the utility of them to mankind in their rude and simple state is beyond calculation. In untutored man, reason is weak, the mental feelings are heavy and rough, while sense, imagination, and passion are the leading avenues both to the understanding and heart. To man thus situated, the appointment of sacrifices is peculiarly adapted for these convey a most pathetic and awful address to his very senses, and thus rouse him to the most serious and impressive reflections. The frequent spectacles of bleeding and smoking victims, suffering and atoning for the guilty offerers, would give them the deepest impressions of the purity, justice, and majesty of God, of the evil of transgressions, of their own ill desert, and of the necessity of some adequate atonement, and of the readiness of the Deity to pardon the penitent. The nume rous and diversified offerings of the ancient Jews, with the striking pomp which preceded and attended them, were fitted not only to excite and express the most reverential, humble, and grateful devotion; but also to give the best direction to the whole temper and conduct. The many washings and

On the application of these second tithes, see Michaelis's Commenta. ries, vol. iii. pp. 142, 143. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iii. pp. 141-145.

purifications, enjoined previous to the oblation of sacrifice, ing, a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. In a word, were not only physically beneficial in the eastern countries, the religion of the Jews and that of Christians form one but directly tended to impress a simple people with a scru- great and harmonious plan. The Jews saw gospel-truth in pulous regard to inward and moral purity, especially in all its early and gradual dawn; we behold in it its meridian their approaches to the Deity. That this was the primary splendour. When Christ appeared, the candid and pious intention of these ceremonies, was a maxim frequently and Jews embraced him; because they saw in him a glorious solemnly enforced. In those early ages, the language of counterpart, a perfect accomplishment of their ancient rites these well-chosen emblems could not fail to be well under- and predictions. The Gentiles, on the other hand, were led stood and strongly felt. Above all, the frequent sacrifices of to venerate and believe in the Hebrew Law; because they the Jewish law were intended to prefigure, and gradually to beheld in it an exact, though imperfect figure and prophecy prepare men for the great atoning sacrifice of the promised of the Gospel. What beauty and glory do these observaMessiah." Accordingly, "our Saviour, in allusion to those tions reflect both on the Jewish and Christian dispensations! ancient oblations, is called by way of eminence a sin-offer- What admirable depth of wisdom do they discover in both!"

CHAPTER IV.

SACRED TIMES AND SEASONS OBSERVED BY THE JEWS.

I. THE SABBATH.-1. How observed.-2. Jewish Worship on that Day; particularly their Manner of worshipping in the Temple.-II. NEW MOONS.-III. Annual Festivals.-Their important Design.-IV. THE PASSOVER; when celebrated, and with what Ceremonies; its mystical or typical Reference.-V. THE DAY OF PENTECOST.—VI. THE FEast of Tabernacles. -VII. Other annual Festivals.-1. THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS.-2. THE DAY OF EXPIATION.-VIII. Annual Festivals instituted by the Jews in later Times.-1. THE FEAST OF PURIM. 2. THE FEAST OF DEDICATION.-IX, Other Festivals observed at stated Intervals.-1. THE SABBATICAL YEAR.-2. THE YEAR OF JUBILEE.

In order to perpetuate the memory of the numerous wonders God had wrought in favour of his people, Moses, by the Divine command, instituted various festivals, which they were obliged to observe: these sacred seasons were either weekly, monthly, or annual, or recurred after a certain number of years.

I. Every seventh day was appropriated to sacred repose, and called the SABBATH; although this name is in some passages given to other festivals, as in Lev. xxv. 4., and sometimes it denotes a week, as in Matt. xxviii. 1. Luke xxiv. 1. Acts xx. 7. and 1 Cor. xvi. 2. (Gr.) It was originally instituted to preserve the memory of the creation of the world (Gen. ii. 3.); whether it continued to be observed by the Israelites as a day of rest and holy convocation during their residence in Egypt, is a question concerning which learned men are no means agreed. When, however, God gave them rest in the land of Canaan, he gave them his Sabbaths to be statedly kept (Exod. xx. 10, 11. and xvi. 23.); and its observance was specially enjoined on the Israelites in Deut. v. 15., because they were the redeemed people of God, and they were to make the Sabbath a day of peculiar recognition of their deliverance from bondage.3

1. In the observance of the Sabbath, the following circumstances were enjoined by divine command:-(1.) This day was to be held sacred as a day of worship, in memory of the creation of the world by Jehovah, and also of the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage, as well as a day of repose both for man and beast, that they might be refreshed, and not have their bodily strength exhausted by uninterrupted labour (Gen. ii. 1-3. Deut. v. 13. Exod. xx. 10, 11. Ezek. xx. 20.); hence the celebration of the Sabbath was the making of a weekly profession that they received and revered the Creator of heaven and earth, and was closely connected with the fundamental principle of the Mosaic law, whose object was to keep the people from idolatry, and to maintain the worship of the one true God; and hence, also, the punishment of death was denounced against the wilful profanation of this solemnity. (2.) On this day they were most religiously to abstain from all manner of work. (Exod. xx. 10. xxiii. 12. xxxi. 12-17. xxxv. 2. Deut. v. 14, 15. Jer. xvii. 22.) It was, therefore, unlawful to gather manna (Exod. xvi. 22-30.), to light a fire for culinary purposes Exod. xxxv. 3. Num. xv. 32-36.), and to sow or reap. (Exod. xxxiv. 21.) To these enactments the Jewish doctors added a variety of other regulations, for which there is not the slightest foundation in the law of Moses. Thus, it was formerly accounted unlawful to repel force by force on the

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Sabbath-day; and how much its observance was strained by the traditions of the elders in the time of our Lord, is suffi ciently manifest. Hence, we find it was deemed unlawful to pluck ears of corn (Matt. xii. 2.) to satisfy the cravings of nature, because that was a species of reaping. We learn from the Talmudical writers that it was unlawful to use oil medicinally, though they allowed it as a luxury; the anointing of the body with fragrant oils being then, as it is now, in the East, one of their highest enjoyments. It was a traditional rule of the ancient Jewish doctors that "whatever could possibly be done on the day before, or might be deferred until the following day, ought not to drive out the Sabbath ;" an excellent maxim when rightly understood, but when applied to cases of infirmity or sickness, they manifestly showed that they did not comprehend the meaning of the divine declaration-I will have mercy and not sacrifice. In chronical diseases, therefore, of which description were those cured by Jesus Christ on the Sabbath-day, they conceived that the persons who had so long struggled with them might very well bear them a day longer, rather than prepare medicines or in any way attempt to be cured on that day. The knowledge of this circumstance will greatly illustrate the conduct of our Lord in healing the sick on the Sabbath-day, and particularly the man who had been born blind. (John ix.) The rule above stated was made before he began to teach, and he gladly availed himself of the first opportunity to refute their erroneous notions, and expose their gross prevarication in interpreting many of the sabbatical laws. Further, seeing it was prohibited to put fasting spittle upon or into the eyes of a blind man on the Sabbath-day, our Saviour effected a cure by using both clay and spittle (John ix. 6. 11.), to show his divine authority, in employing means to human reason the most improper, even on that sacred day, directly in opposition to the above rule; which was good and just in itself, but hypocritical, superstitious, and cruel, when applied to the case of healing on the Sabbath. The services of the temple, however, might be performed without profaning the Sabbath, such as preparing the sacrifices (Lev. vi. 8-13. Num. xxviii. 3-10. Matt. xii. 5.); and it was also lawful to perform circumcision on that day. (John vii. 23.) (3.) The Sabbath was to be devoted to cheerful rest, that not only the Israelites, but also strangers living with them, as well as their cattle, might be refreshed. (Exod. xxiii. 12.) Hence, it is not improbable, that they celebrated sacrificial or offering feasts, to which, from the commencement of their polity, the poor were invited. In later times, at least, we know from history, that the Jews purchased and prepared the best viands they could procure

1 Macc. ii. 31-38. See other examples in Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xii. c. 6. § 2. De Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 16. § 4. lib. iv. c. 2. $3. and de vitâ suà, $32. Dr. Wotton's Misna, title Shabbath, pp. 101-103. 123. The Sabbath, we may observe, was a type of that eternal rest, which all the true ser vants of God will hereafter enjoy in heaven. See Jones's Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews, lect. ii. (Works, vol. iii. pp. 240--242.)

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