<< Leviticus 1: The Burnt Sacrifice of Birds >>

 14And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of And when the turtledoves, or of young pigeons. 15And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar: 16And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes: 17And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. — Lev. i. 14 — 17.

THE custom of sacrificing, so wide spread among ancient nations, and existing even in the present day, indicates an origin of the practice in times most remote, and of such a character, as to affect the human family. The prominence of sacrifices, in the pages of divine revelation, is such as to command our deepest interest, while we seek to solve the questions, why were they instituted?

And what do they mean? To consider these questions attentively, and to answer them truly, may the spirit of our blessed Lord,without which we can have neither the love nor the light which are essential to the enquiry, lend his all-sufficient aid.

The first observation which we propose to illustrate from the Divine Word on this subject is, that the leading idea presented by revelation is, that sacrifices are the dedication in worship of good things to the Lord, not the punishment of bad ones.

Secondly, we would remark that the objects offered, and the mode of the sacrifice, are strictly in accordance with worship according to correspondences, and hence we infer that they originated in the perversion of the ancient, universal knowledge of the science of correspondence.

Thirdly, that outward sacrifices never were in accordance with the Divine Will, but the result of human darkness and degeneracy.

Fourthly. That the typical meaning of sacrifices in relation to man, has a still higher fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ, the great high priest, and the supreme sacrifice.

We have observed, in the first place, that worship and dedication to God are the general ideas connected with sacrifices in the Sacred Scriptures, and this is most important to a right understanding of them. They have very commonly been regarded as typical of the punishment of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. But a careful consideration of the subject will show that punishment is not included in the true idea of sacrifice at all, much less the punishment by an infinitely righteous Being of the innocent for the guilty. His own Divine love induced the Saviour to glorify His humanity through sufferings, that He might be a Saviour for ever to bring His children to Himself; and thus He suffered, as the apostle says, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He suffered to satisfy His love, not as a punishment to appease the anger of another divine person. The idea of punishment is not included in the doctrine of sacrifice at all.

In the sacrifice before us, " it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord." A symbol this of the offering of interior worship, from love, the fire of the soul, on the altar of the heart. This constitutes a spiritual burnt sacrifice, a sweet savour indeed unto the Lord. But, let us remark, how sacrifices are mentioned in the sacred volume, and we shall see how far they are from including the idea of punishment.

We find an instance of this use of the term so early as Deut, xxxiii. 19 : " They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness : for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand." Sacrifices of righteousness, undoubtedly, imply the worship of the Lord from righteous feelings and emotions. The Psalmist still more definitely points to the spiritual idea to which sacrifices correspond, when he says, " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion : build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering : then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar." Here, undoubtedly, the true sacrifices of God are described to be a spirit in which pride is broken, a heart in which sin is subdued. The adoration and devotion of hearts like these are the sacrifices of righteousness, or justice ; and when this is done from the fire of a love which glows and burns first in the inward spirit, and then throughout the whole soul, it is a burnt offering, and a whole burnt offering, acceptable to the Lord. The passage in the previous Psalm, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High.” evidently speaks of the offerings of a grateful heart. In Psalm cvii. 22, there is another reference to the same interior offerings. " And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing."

In the New Testament, a similar signification of sacrifices is evident. There is a striking example in the epistle to the Romans, where the apostle says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (chap. xii. 1). Here it is most evident, the idea of sacrifice is that of offering ourselves up to the worship of God, by doing His will. We are not to destroy ourselves, or to punish our bodies, but to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, to become holy and acceptable to God. Again : in the Epistle to the Philippians, we find the apostle saying, " I have all, and abound : I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God " (chap. iv. 18), where it is evident the idea of sacrificing is offering from the heart. In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is written, " But to do good and to communicate forget not ; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (chap. xiii. 16). The apostle Peter speaks in like manner, when he says of Christians, " 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 Pet. ii. 5. From all this, therefore, we may clearly gather that the general idea of all sacrifices is not punishment, but self-dedication and worship of the inner heart and life. It is true, the animals which were offered up in the representative worship of the Jews were previously slain, but this was not as a punishment, but a preparation for the sacrifice, and part of the type. It was representative of that destruction of selfishness which must be effected in us before we can offer ourselves up to the Lord's will. This self-denial is very strikingly placed before us by the Lord, when He said, " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." — Luke ix. 23, 24. This important truth was shadowed forth also in the place for sacrifice and for washing, being the outer court of the tabernacle, not in the holy place, nor in the holy place, nor in the holy of holies (Exod. xl. 29, 80). The lesson intended by this is, we presume clearly this, that our entry into the Church can only be really made by the purification of our minds, and the destruction of self-will in our hearts. And this is the very truth. The Lord said to Peter, " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in me :" and this is the indispensable lesson to be learned by us all. We must be washed, made clean from our evils ; we must take up our cross daily, and lose our selfish life, or we can offer no sacrifice that will be acceptable to Him who sanctified Himself, that we may be sanctified by the truth.

O may this lesson be deeply impressed upon ail who contemplate the subject now before us. First may we renounce our selfish life, and become contrite in spirit, and broken in heart, and then offer up our whole talents, powers and faculties, a whole burnt sacrifice of loving service, to the Will of Him, whose service is perfect freedom.

But secondly, the objects offered up were correspondences of good principles. The animals used in the sacrifices were, lambs, sheep, oxen, goats, turtle-doves and pigeons, and a consideration of the typical character of each will assist us to confirm the truth of our first proposition. For, surely, it is more natural to conclude that these different animals are the types of different principles, and their being offered up the dedication of these to the Lord, than to suppose that, though there was so great variety in the sacrifices, there was no variety in the things signified : they are related to the one act of the Lord's death upon the cross, regarded as a punishment for our sins. Let us endeavour to take a wider view, and first enquire into the typical character of the animals in question. They are often referred to in the Word of God. The lamb is used there as the symbol of innocence, and is so expressive of this grace, that it is almost a household word; for those who are in possession of it. " I send you forth," said our Lord, " as lambs in the midst of wolves." Sheep are the types of the gentle principles of charity, or sympathizing brotherly love. The sheep described by the Lord Jesus in Matt xxv. were those who had fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the prisoners, and succoured the strangers. " Inasmuch as ye did these things,'' said the Divine Saviour, " to the least of these my brethren, you did them unto me."

Oxen are the types of the dispositions to duty and obedience. It was the animal chiefly devoted to the plough, and ploughing, in the spiritual sense, meant the preparation of the soul to receive the knowledge of heavenly things. The true method to prepare for firesh instruction is to practise what we already know. Our Lord has a remarkable declaration in allusion to spiritual ploughing. “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." — Luke ix. 62. There is also a remarkable passage in the prophecy of Isaiah, which becomes however very expressive when we apply the correspondence of the ox, the principle of obedience. " Blessed are ye who sow beside all waters, who send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass."— chap, xxxii. 20. Blessed, indeed, are they who having a spirit to obey, the ox, and to progress in the faith of truth, though it be only in the letter of the Word — the ass, yet go to the waters of salvation, and strengthen and purify their lives thereby. Blessed are they. The goat, whose delight is in leaping from rock to rock, is the symbol of the disposition to regard the truths of faith with great pleasure, which sometimes degenerates into a love of truth only, and then is strongly condemned by the Lord (Ezek. xxxiv. ; Matt, xxv.) Birds, from their soaring power, are the symbols of thoughts. Turtle-doves and pigeons are correspondences of those tender thoughts and yearning after the heavenly life which the soul has in the early part of its regeneration. The cooing of the turtle-dove was first heard in the groves of Palestine, on the return of spring. Its sweet sound was the sign of the approach of a brighter and warmer season. When the soul, therefore, is coming to a more genial condition, the sweet thoughts of hope and trust that encourage its advance towards the heavenly state and kingdom, are like the soft notes of a God-sent turtle-dove. All these types, then, of good affections and thoughts, as well as the mode of offering up by fire, abundantly confirm the view we have drawn from the Holy Word, that the sacrifices were representative of good things and principles, dedicated to the Lord in worship, not of punishment for human sin.

But we will proceed to examine more closely the particular sacrifice before us, that of fowls.

Birds, in general, correspond to thoughts. That man in his intellectual part has a power of soaring into lofty subjects, far beyond the state he has already attained in practice, is evident to every one. We can think much better than we can do. And this is owing to the freedom Divine Mercy has preserved for our thoughts, even when our hearts are still the slaves of sin. This free intellectual power is represented in nature by the free flight of birds, the lofty elevation they can reach, and the extensive survey they can make. The gentle birds correspond to gentle thoughts, the destructive birds to pernicious thoughts. When on a bright sunny morning we take a walk in the fields, and watch the lark soaring high over head, and pouring out her flood of melodious song, still rising higher and still warbling more sweetly, while her song trills on, we feel conscious of a power to ascend to things divine. We, too, would soar and sing. And when we observe that the bird of loftiest flight, and sweetest song, has the lowest nest, we can scarcely fail to read the lesson, that he who has the lowest thoughts of himself, can most loftily enter into the things of heaven, and most sweetly utter, and deeply feel what is expressed in those glowing words of grateful love : " Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me; bless his holy name.”

In the Scriptures, birds are constantly used as correspondences. “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers ; the snare is broken, and we are escaped.'' — Ps. cxxiv. 7. " The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field : which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." — Matt. xiii. 31, 32. The birds which lodge in the branches of the heavenly tree can of course only represent heavenly thoughts. When the Lord says in Hosea : " And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground, and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely."— chap. ii. 18. -A very slight reflection will enable us to perceive that the beasts, fowls and creeping things, are analogies of principles in the mental world. With these alone can the Divine Being make such a covenant as will issue in a world at peace.

But turtle-doves and pigeons are used with great frequency in the Divine Word in relation to spiritual things. " deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked : forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever." — Ps. lxxiv, 19. Where, it is obvious, that by the turtle-dove is meant the state of his soul, tenderly yearning after what is good. '' that I had wings like a dove, then would I flee away and be at rest " (Ps. lv. 6), is a breathing after the same heavenward thoughts and aspirations. There is a beautiful use of this correspondence of the dove in Ps. lxviii. 13 : "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." The soul rising from a condition of depression and trial, is depicted, and entering upon thoughts consolatory, sweet and delightful ; her wings covered with the silver of spiritual intelligence and comforts soft as feathers, and breathing the very essence of holy love, the gold of heaven. In the early portion of the Word, the dove that was sent out of the ark, and could not find a place, for a time, for the sole of her foot, was a figure of the state of things when falsehood floods the earth, though God always saves a few from the general wreck. He gives them the ark of a saving religion, which preserves them from the desolation around. Their soft and gentle thoughts meet with rejection when they try to put them forth. Only slowly, and after repeated trial, can the dove find any welcome in the world.

When the prophet is describing the last and host dispensation of religion which God will impart to mankind, he speaks of those who yearn after heavenly things who will come out of the world around to hail and receive it, when he says : " Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? " The adorable Jesus, in a very striking passage, uses the same correspondence of dove: “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, but harmless as doves;" where we are taught that we should be circumspect to avoid danger from evil, and gentle in all our thoughts. From these multiplied instances, it is clear that the Divine Word uses birds as correspondences of thoughts ; doves, especially of soft and heavenly thoughts, and of those persons who cherish such thoughts and delight in them. The Holy Spirit was seen, we are informed in Matthew, to descend upon th Saviour like a dove, because in the world of vision, or spirit world, into which those who beheld the heavenly dove were permitted for the moment to see, all things around the inhabitants are the exact correspondences of the states within them, and, because the humanity of the Lord had then attained a more full union with the Father, and consequent reception of the divine views of tenderness and love towards the human race, the dove ppeared over Him as the correspondence of this.

From these considerations it will not be difficult to perceive the reason for the divine command, that if fowls be offered in sacrifice, they shall consist of turtle-doves or of pigeons.

For what worthier offering could be made, than that which typified man's yearning towards a holier state ? When the sense f the insufficiency of earth to satisfy the angelic demands of our immortal part are felt, when we are sensible how poor are earth's grandest things, and we have begun to hunger and thirst after righteousness. When we have heard the Divine invitation, " Arise, for this is not your rest, for the whole land is polluted,'' and thoughts of love, and hopes that whisper better things, make themselves heard within, these are the voices of spiritual turtle-doves which are the heralds of summer in the soul. The later and larger birds, the pigeons, which in Palestine were singularly beautiful, their feathers having the colour of the rainbow, are the types of the more matured thoughts of the soul, when more fully confirmed in rational prospects and views of heaven. When Peter was confirmed in his adherence to his Lord, he was called Simon, son of Jonas, by the Saviour ; and when he uttered the declaration that the Lord's Humanity was divine, " the Son of the living God " (Matt. xvi. 16.) his Master said, " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona,'' flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (ver. 17.), both Jonas and Jona being only other forms of the Hebrew, joneh, pigeon. Peter is described as the son of the pigeon, then, in harmony with the correspondence of that bird to thoughts of heavenly things, such as they are in the mind of a person who is in true filth. When, therefore, the sacrifice of birds, is directed to be of turtle-doves, or pigeons, we may now readily see the reason. In adoring the Lord, for our thoughts, we must do so especially for those, our choicest and best, which have their home in heaven. We must bless Him for all things, but chiefly for " the things which belong to our peace." The Lord said, " Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth to everlasting life,'' and this ordinance of the sacrifice of fowls implies worship not from thoughts which have earth for their object, but from thoughts which tend to regeneration, and to heaven. Let no vain fancies, or idle dreams intrude in your approaches to the King of kings ; let your sacrifices be of the turtle-doves, or of the pigeons of those spiritual aspirations which soar towards the home of the angels, and rejoice in the glories of heaven.

The priest, it is said, shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it upon the altar. By burning the head completely on the altar, is indicated the acknowledgement from the heart, and with an earnest spirit of love, — the fire upon the altar, that all our good thoughts originate from the Lord, and are His. The accessories come to us in various ways, and sometimes are mixed with fallacies and mistakes derived, it may be, from our association with some erroneous form of faith, for blessed be the Divine mercy, salvation is possible under every form, but the head is wholly the Lord's. "All my springs are in thee."

The next proceeding of the priest was to wring out the blood on the side of the altar, and this reminds us of the frequent use of blood in a striking symbolical manner. The blood of the Paschal lamb was directed to be sprinkled on the door posts and lintels of the Israelitish houses in Egypt, that the destroyer of the first-born might not enter (Ex. Xii. 23.). There are express directions given in relation to each sacrifice, whether the blood should be sprinkled on the sides, or poured at the bottom of the altar. These circumstances will no doubt lead the Christian to think of that blood of the Lamb which purifies the conscience, washes our spiritual robes, and maketh them white, and without drinking of which we have no everlasting life. This blood is Divine Truth from the Lord. “The blood of the New Testament," He calls it Himself, " which is shed for many for the remission of sins." No outward blood can affect the conscience, impart purity to the soul. Only Truth, inwardly seen and felt, can do that. The Word learned, loved, and sent on its mission through the soul, is the blood that cleanses. “Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” We are " sanctified by the truth." — John xvii. 19. The union of truth with goodness, which takes place when we worship the Lord, was represented by the blood sprinkled, or wrung out, on the side of the altar.

The priest next was to pluck away the crop, with the feathers, cast it beside the altar on the east side. And this takes us , most important consideration. The crop, being the bird's depository of food before it is digested, corresponds to the memory in man. Instruction in the memory before it has been digested in the rational faculty, and made our own in practice, ke food in the crop. When we die, such knowledge in the memory is of no avail in the sight of God, and is rejected. In the eternal world, knowledge passeth away (I. Cor. xiii. 8). Only the principles of truth and goodness remain, which we have made our own, by doing what we know to be according to the Divine Will. " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them," said our adorable Lord, and so it undoubtedly is.

The religion of the memory, is alas, all that is possessed by a ;e portion of those who call themselves Christians. They have read and heard, possibly much upon this all-important subject. They have admitted as right, what religion claims. They can speak on religious themes, it may be fluently, but the tone and temper of their minds are contrary to its hallowed precepts, and their lives are uninfluenced by its laws. The words of religion they have learned, but they are foreign to its Divine spirit of love and virtue. Theirs is the religion of the crop and feathers, and these will be rejected to the very externals of the soul, as ashes. Alas, what will be left.

The east side of the altar signifies out of regard to the will of the Lord, for the east corresponds to a state of love to Him, the Sun of Righteousness. Some there are who diligently store the memory with languages, and pass for learned and wise, among men. They give no heed, however, to enter into and understand the great things of which languages are but the vehicles. Take them beyond the words, and they are at once out of their depth. They do not cultivate their reason, and seek light to live for the sublime objects of eternity. Words, words, words, are almost all they know. When they are stripped of these feathers of thought, by coming into a world where none of the languages of earth are utterable, where thought itself must speak, what must be their helplessness! How will the wise become stupid! How will the eloquent be struck dumb! How will the fluent in words, but careless of intellect, find that a light prevails which they have hated, a language is uttered which they have not practised, and like spiritual owls, they will fly from the light of the eternal world, muttering the indistinct emptiness of souls, really insane.

O may this state never be ours! But on the contrary, may our happy diligence warrant us to say with the prophet, " When I found thy Word, I did eat it, and it was the joy and rejoicing of my heart." Then, when all the words, and the memory of our earthly part, are closed up and laid aside, we may find treasures of wisdom in our inner man, treasures of gratitude, of love to the Lord, of righteousness, and every angelic grace which will then inspire us with true heavenly eloquence. O my beloved hearers, forget not the express words of the Lord, " Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." — Luke xii. 33, 34.

There is a remarkable injunction still remaining to be considered. The bird being sacrificed was to be cleaved, but not so far as to be divided. In the case of Abraham's sacrifice in his vision (Gen. xv. 9, 10), God said to him, “Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another, but the birds divided he not. In the case of the beasts which represent good dispositions in the heart, there was a full division, and placing of the pieces parallel, over against one another. There was an answering of each to each. They are as the two sides of the covenant. The Lord imparts goodness to man from within; man receives it. On the one side, thee Lord conjoins to Himself by it, on the other side man obeys. There is a correspondence and communion between them. " Abide in me," the Lord says, " and I in you." This takes place by means of goodness in the regenerated will. The thoughts of man are not susceptible of this close parallelism with the Divine Truth, nor is it essential they should be so. There may be many fallacies, and errors in his thoughts, yet he may be guided in the right direction. The religion of fear may help a man out of a brutal life, although his ideas of God are grossly mistaken. There is in them a saving side, an acknowledgment of the authority of God, and His right to govern. There is submission given. He allows the claims of heaven in certain way, although not as they are truly taught by the Divine Truth itself. This was represented by the birds being cloven, but not divided, and laid one side over against the other. This want of exact resemblance between God's truth, and man's thought may continue during man's whole life in the world, and yet God accepts his sacrifice. Full correspondence will only be affected in that world, of which it is written, " Whosoever hath to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not from him shall s taken "even that which he seemeth to have." — Luke v. 18.

Lastly, the offering is made upon wood, by means of the fire, and wood also has its correspondence. It is the type of wood, of almost the lowest kind, a regard for orderly bodily habits. This furnishes the framework of religion. " Whether we eat, or whether we drink, "we should do it all to the glory of God." Our spiritual sacrifices should be made upon wood. When the waters of Marah were bitter, Moses was commanded to cast wood into them, and they became sweet. The waters of truth, are ever hard and bitter, until we unite them with the good which delights in reducing them to life. If, however, this be there, even in the lowest degree, we are on the road to that blessed enrichment in all heavenly graces of which it is written. “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood, brass, and for stones, iron : I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness." — Is. lx. 17.

We have now briefly considered all the particulars of this Divine law. Its divine lessons come out by means of the correspondences, and are most deeply interesting. May I not ask you, my beloved hearers, if you have no spiritual sacrifice to make? Have not the turtle-dove, or the young pigeon of heavenward thoughts, begun to make themselves heard within you ? Have you no yearnings after a better land ? Have you not felt the aspirations after a fuller conformity to the Lord, after greater purity of heart, and greater usefulness on earth? If you have, follow their leadings, and offer them up to the Lord, in love. Let the fire glow on the altar of your heart. Acknowledge that these first yearnings for good are from Him. He will not despise the gift, but bless it, as an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto the Lord.

We have observed, that so far from the idea of sacrifices being regarded as symbolical of punishment by the Divine Being, the truth is, that outward sacrifices never were in accordance with the Divine command, but were mere permissions to serve as types during the human darkness and degeneracy.

A common idea has been entertained, that outward sacrifices are frequently commanded by God, and He originated the divine arrangement with the Israelites ; but this is altogether an error. Sacrifices were prevalent among the nations of the East, before God spoke from Sinai at all. Pharaoh told the Hebrews they could sacrifice in his land, before a single law respecting sacrifice was given them (Ex. viii. 25). In the Book of Leviticus, where the laws respecting sacrifices are all expressly given, they do not command sacrifices, they only regulate them. The language is, “If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord," as in ver. 2. ' " If his offering be of the flocks " (ver. 10). " If the burnt sacrifice for the offering of the Lord be of fowls" (ver. 14], and so on through the book, evidently implying no command but regulation. The Israelitish people, like all their neighbours, had sunk from worshipping God in the heart and mind, with those affections and thoughts to which animals are the figures and correspondences, and were only too ready to offer up animals instead of offering up themselves. God only regulated this disposition to be a shadow of a better worship to come. The graces of the heart are what God requires, not the slaughter of animals. This is very distinctly stated in the prophets. Jeremiah says: " For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them, saying. Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people : and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'' — chap. vii. 22, 23. Nothing can be clearer than that outward sacrifices are not of command, but only of permission. God commands inward and living virtues alone. The prophet Samuel taught the same truth to Saul, when the unhappy king thought he would be sure to do right if he sacrificed : " Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams." — 1 Sam. xv. 22. The proposition now before us seems to be placed beyond all doubt by the glorious passage in Micah, where the divine requirements are declared in the most sublime and lucid : " Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God ? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old ? With the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? He shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." — chap. vi. 7, 8. Nothing can surely be clearer from this declaration than that outward sacrifices are required by the Divine Being. He needs no purchase of His mercy, nor reconciliation from anger to favour. He is mercy itself, and unchangeable Love itself. All He requires is, that we be brought to become like Him, and thus enabled to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Let us never suppose, then, that any sacrifice will be acceptable to Him, instead of that devotion of all the principles of the soul to do His holy Will, which is the inward meaning of all the sacrifices.

Lastly, to enable us to do this, and thus to return to the order of heaven, and to offer spiritual sacrifices again, the Lord Himself took Human Nature upon Himself, and purified, perfected, and glorified this, so that all the sacrifices have their highest fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, tbe great High Priest, and the Supreme Sacrifice.

Onthis subject, we should first remember that the Lord took our nature to become God-with-us. He took our nature as it is, in order that He might be tempted in all respects like unto His brethren.

This assumption of Human Nature in its fallen character had objects in view not at all inferior to Creation itself. The whole spiritual world was in a disorganized state, and all things tended to mental ruin. The world of spirits, with which man was immediately connected, was swarming with the powers of darkness. Not only the souls of men were in slavery, but in many cases, their bodies also. The Lord had governed the race hitherto through angels (Heb. ii. 2), and under this government all these evils had arisen. To avert utter ruin to His immortal creatures, it was necessary He should come immediately into the presence of His creatures, as a Redeemer and a Saviour.

First, that God Himself might become known to them from His own words and acts, as a Being of Infinite Love, whose tender mercies were over all His works.

Secondly, that He might through His assumed Humanity throw down the powers of darkness, and place man again in spiritual freedom (Luke x. 18).

Thirdly, that by glorifying or perfecting this Humanity He might lead us as an example in the path of the Regeneration.

Fourthly. That this perfected Human Nature might be a medium, or Mediator between Himself and His creatures for ever, to give salvation and strength to the penitent, and to hold hell in subjection. (Matt xxviii. 18. Rev. i. 17, 18.)

Fifthly, that He might found His church on the great truth, that His perfected Humanity was divine, and through it God and man might for ever be conjoined as church and Head, as children and Father, as Saviour and saved, as Shepherd and sheep. Such were the great objects of the incarnation of Jehovah, worthy of Infinite Love, and necessary for the everlasting salvation of the human race. Creation itself would have become valueless had it not been followed by Redemption. Hence the importance attributed to the work of Redemption in the Word, especially in the prophecy of Isaiah (chap. xxxv. ; chap, xl 11; chap. xlix. 24, 25).

Now, we have seen that in relation to man, the sacrifices represent the dedication of the several principles of his nature to the Divine will, by the destruction of selfishness in him, and his consequent regeneration.

  In our blessed Lord, this sanctification of His Humanity was far higher, it was the making of it Divine, and thus the Supreme sacrifice. He had the same principles in His Humanity, which we have in ours, thus He had the innocence represented by the lamb, the charity of which the sheep is the symbol, the obedience typified by the ox, the desire for faith of which the goat is the emblem, the thought and yearnings for the salvation of the human race represented by the turtledoves and young pigeons. As His Humanity was from Jehovah interiorly, being the Son of God, but clothed with infirm coverings from His mother, He needed to sanctify and perfect it by a process precisely similar to that, by means of which His children are prepared for heaven. Hence, in looking to the Lord as sacrificed for us, we should not confine our view to His cross. This was but the last act in His struggle with the powers of darkness (Luke xxii. 53 ; Heb. 14). His life was a constant series of sacrifices ; of the glorifying of His Humanity, first as to one principle, and then as to another. He glorified it, again and again (John xii. 28). He was the Lamb of God as to the innocence of His Humanity, and this, when sanctified from the imperfections assumed from the mother Mary, became so filled and permeated by the Divine love, as to become a whole burnt offering, not destroyed, but perfected, and glowing with the glories of the Godhead for ever. He was the Dove of God, as to the meek wisdom of His Humanity, and when He was baptized from the limitations of mere human imperfections, from his association with our nature, fallen as He took it at first (Luke xii. 50), then He became altogether a sacrifice of a turtledove, the blood of His Divine Wisdom sanctified the altar, the crop and feathers of mere materiality were rejected, and He became in this respect an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto Jehovah. He entered into His glory by sufferings, of which his death on the cross was the last, but not the first — these sufferings were not to be regarded as punishments from another divine person, but as means of gloriication, submitted to by His Divine Love for man, that He night offer Himself without spot to God (Heb. ix. 4), and that we might afterwards be sanctified '' through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." — (Heb. x. 10.)

Christ, our Passover, was then sacrificed for us in a wider, and fuller sense, than has often been supposed. And He is now a new and living way, '' which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh." — (Heb. x. 20.) Through this way, all the blessings of Divine Mercy, Strength, Light and joy, descend to us. may we look to this door of the Godhead with adoration and reverence. In Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. He is Divine Love, in a Divine Body. He that seeth Him seeth the Father. Through the glorification of the Son is the entire likeness of the Eternal Father in Him, and it can be truly said, as the apostle remarks, " Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever : a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." — Heb. i. 8, 9. All the angels worship this glorified Redeemer, let us worship Him too. " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." Rev. v. 12.

Surely, my beloved friends, we may now appreciate those divine words, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of the law.” Ps. cxix. 18.

The law thus seen, is indee what the Psalmist declared it to be, better than thousands of gold and silver “Blessed is he whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate, day and night.” Each precept opens to the mind some spiritual duty of worshipping the Lord in our thoughts, as well as in our hearts. We are invited to “praise the Lord with beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl.”---Ps. Cxlviii. 10. While then, we are delighted to find, in our spiritual pilgrimage, we are not left solitary, and songless, but as we go on, we have happy thoughts, soaring and singing around us, like birds of heaven, let us gratefully confess all these are from the Lord. Let us devote them to Him. “They wait upon the Lord. Let us devote them to Him. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”---Is. xl. 31. Let us glorify the Lord for our birds. Let us make them a living sacrifice to Him, filled with adoring Love. He originates them, the head is wholly His. He desires that the truth which forms their inward life, should be united to the good from which we adore our heavenly Father, the altar of our hearts. Let us thus pour the blood upon the side of the altar.

Let us never forget, too, that all our power, to fulfil the law, in our spirits, comes from the divine sacrifice of Him, who lived and died for us. Had He not assumed and glorified His Humanity, there was no help for man. The Holy Ghost was not given, until Jesus was glorified. All the law, as well as the prophets, pointed to this great work. He was the end of the law for righteousness. The lamb that was shun, the serpent that was lifted up, the turtle-dove that was sacrificed, all supremely shadowed Him who lived, and died, and rose again, " that He might be Lord of the dead and the living."—Rom. xiv. 9. Let all the powers of our minds be consecrated to ponder upon this dedication of the Human to the Divine in the Saviour, until the Divine Love, as an Infinite Fire, filled it wholly, and made it a whole burnt sacrifice, a savour of mercy, the Head of all things, to heaven and the church for ever.

Author: JONATHAN BAYLEY --From The Divine Word Opened (1887)