his lamb, and named the number of persons that were to partake of it. They must not be fewer than ten, nor more than nineteen ; and if the family were too small, two or more families were united.* Helah then drew his knife through the throat of the lamb, and the priest who stood next to him caught the blood in his basin, and handed to the one who stood next to him, and so it was passed on to him who stood nearest the altar, who poured the blood on it. The empty basins were passed back in the same way. The father of every family killed the lamb himself. On other occasions, the priest killed the sacrifices, but once a year, every father of a family sacrificed his lamb, for a memorial that Israel was a nation of priests. While this ceremony was performing, the priests on the fifteen steps sung the great hallelujah, and at each psalm the priests on the pillar which stood by the altar blew the trumpet three times. George. Mr. Anderson, what is the great hallelujah? I have often seen that word, but I never knew what it meant. * Exodus xii. 4. + Deut. xvi. 2. 5, 6. G 66 Mr. Anderson. The word hallelujah is Hebrew, and means, " praise ye the Lord." I intended to explain to you what was meant by the great hallelujah, if you had not asked. me. I hope you will not let any thing pass which you do not understand without asking about it. The grand hallelujah embraced several psalms which stand last in our collection of them, particularly the last three. The multitude of instruments and voices, and the whole grandeur of the scene, were calculated to impress the mind very deeply. While they were singing, Helah carried the lamb to one of the pillars, hung it to one of the hooks, and taking off the skin and the fat, gave the fat to the priest, who salted it, and laid it on the altar. He then gave the lamb to the servant, and leading the way out of the north door or gate, which led from the court of the priests to that of Israel, and passing round through Solomon's porch into the southern part of the court of the gentiles, and thence out by one of the western gates, they found themselves, in a few minutes, at the entrance of Helah's house. The passover might now be said to be begun. Every master of a house had killed his lamb on Mount Moriah, and returned to eat it with his family. The company at Helah's house were all assembled, and the lamb was roasting in the oven in the apartment of the women. A Jewish oven was nothing but an excavation or hollow in the ground, about two feet and a half broad, and from five to six feet deẹp. The sides of it were built up with stones, and it was heated by a fire kindled in the bottom. The lamb was suspended in it by a stick running lengthwise through it, which was crossed by another stick between the forefeet. It had been expressly commanded by God, "Ye shall not eat of it raw, nor sodden with water, but roast it with fire."* All On this evening alone, the females ate with the men. The whole household of every rank and age must be assembled, and all must be clean according to the law of Moses. Jews were this night alike. The bond was as the free, the woman as the man. All were the people of Jehovah, and equal in his sight. * Exodus xii. 9. None were excluded from the feast but unclean persons, strangers of the gate, hirelings, and uncircumcised persons. The table stood in the middle of the room; such a one as I have before described to you, low, three-sided, and usually surrounded by carpets and sofas. But now there were no sofas. The paschal lamb was to be eaten standing. Every thing was arranged so as to bear marks of confusion and haste. The carpets lay in one corner, piled up by themselves; the guests stood round the table with sandals on their feet, their garments girded about them, and their staves in their hand, as if ready for a journey. This was in token of the haste with which they were driven out of Egypt. The lamb lay upon the table roasted whole, in obedience to the command not to break a bone of it, and served up with a salad of wild and bitter herbs.* A large vessel filled with wine, immediately from the cask, stood also upon the table, and the meal began by Helah's asking a blessing upon it. He laid * Exodus xii. 8. . 66 hold of it with both hands, lifted it up with the right hand, and said, Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, thou king of the world, who hast given us the fruit of the vine;" and the whole company answered, "Amen." He then drank from the cup and sent it round to the rest. When this was over, he began again, "Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, thou king of the world, who hast sanctified us by thy precepts, and commanded us to wash our hands." He and the whole company then washed their hands from a basin filled from the water-pots which were set on all these festive occasions.* This was an emblem of purification, and implied that they must come to the feast with pure hearts as well as clean hands. The apostle Paul has very plainly expressed the true import or meaning of these rites when he says, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."+ The unleavened bread (flat cakes with many small holes in them, as I told you before), the bitter herbs, a vessel * John ii. 6. + 1 Cor. v. 8 |