The following commentary covers Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7.
The
sin- and trespass-offerings; their difference from the
sacrifices of sweet savour
We come now to the
sacrifices which were not sacrifices of sweet savour—the
sin and trespass-offerings, alike in the great principle,
though differing in character and detail: this difference
we will notice. But first a very important principle must
be noticed. The sacrifices of which we have spoken, the
sacrifices of sweet savour, presented the identity of the
offerer and the victim: this identity was signified by
the laying on of the hands of the worshippers. But in
those sacrifices the worshipper came as an offerer,
whether Christ or one led by the Spirit of Christ, and so
identified with Him in presenting himself to God—came
of his own voluntary will, and was identified as a
worshipper with the acceptability and acceptance of his
victim.
The sin-offering
brought by a sinner, coming as having guilt upon him
In the case of the sin-offering,
there was the same principle of identity with the victim
by laying on of hands; but he who came, came not as a
worshipper, but as a sinner; not as clean for communion
with the Lord, but as having guilt upon him; and instead
of his being identified with the acceptability of the
victim, though that became subsequently true, the victim
became identified with his guilt and unacceptableness,
bore his sins and was treated accordingly. This was
completely the case where the sin-offering was purely
such. I have added, "though that became subsequently
true," because in many of the sin-offerings a
certain part identified them with the acceptableness of
Christ, which, in Him who united in His Person the virtue
of all the sacrifices, could never be lost sight of. The
distinction between the identity of the victim with the
sin of the guilty, and the identity of the worshipper
with the acceptance of the victim, marks the difference
of these sacrifices and of the double aspect of the work
of Christ very clearly.
Four classes of
sin and trespass offerings
I now come to the details.
There were four ordinary classes of sin and trespass-offerings,
besides two very important special offerings, of which we
may speak hereafter: sins where natural conscience was
violated; that which became evil by the ordinance of the
Lord, as uncleannesses which made the worshipper
inadmissible, and other things (this had a mixed
character of sin and trespass, and is called by both
names); wrongs done to the Lord in His holy things; and
wrongs done to the neighbour by breaches of confidence
and the like. The first class is in Leviticus 4; the
second, attached to it, down to verse 13 of chapter 5;
the third, from verse 14 to the end; the fourth, in the
first seven verses of chapter 6.
Interrupted
communion between God and His people distinguished from
individual sin and loss
The two other remarkable
examples of sin-offering were the day of expiation, and
the red heifer, which demand an examination apart. The
circumstances of the offering were simple. In the case of
the high priest and the body of the people sinning, it is
evident that all communion was interrupted. It was not
merely the restoration of the individual to communion
which was needed, but the restoration of communion
between God and the whole people; not the forming a
relation (the day of atonement effected that), but the re-establishment
of interrupted communion. Hence the blood was sprinkled
before the veil seven times for the perfect restoration
of this communion, and the blood also put on the horns of
the altar of incense.
When the sin was
individual, the communion of the people in general was
not interrupted, but the individual had lost his
enjoyment of the blessing. The blood was sprinkled
therefore, not where the priest approached—at the
altar of incense; but where the individual did—at
the altar of burnt-offering. The efficacy of the sin-offering
of Christ is needed, but has been once for all
accomplished, for every fault; but the communion of the
worshipping body of the church, though lamed and hindered,
is not cut off by the individual sin; but when this is
known, restoration is needed and the offering demanded [1]. That the Lord may punish the
whole congregation, if the sin lie undetected, we know;
for He did so in Achan. That is, the power belonging to a
state in which God is ungrieved, is enfeebled and lost,
and where conscience is awake and the heart interested in
the blessing of God's people, this leads to search out
the cause. But this is connected with the government of
God; the imputation of sin as guilt is another matter,
but sin in itself has always its own character with God.
"Israel," said He, "hath sinned;" but
Achan only suffers when the evil is known and purged, and
blessing returns, though with much greater difficulty.
The truth is, that He who knows how to unite general
government with particular judgment, even where there is
general faithfulness, puts in evidence individual evil,
or permits it not (a yet higher and happier case); and,
on the other hand, can employ the sin of the individual
as a means of chastening the whole.
God can let
nothing pass
Indeed it appears to me
very clear, in the case alluded to, that, though the
occasion of the chastening is evident in the sin of Achan,
Israel had shewn a confidence in human strength which was
chastised and shewn vain in the result, as divine
strength was shewn all-sufficient in Jericho. However
that is, it is evident from the detail of these sin-offerings
that God can let nothing pass; He can forgive all and
cleanse from all, but let nothing pass. The sin hidden to
a man's self is not hidden to God; and why is it hidden
to himself, but that negligence, the fruit of sin, has
stupified his spiritual intelligence and attention?
God judges sins
according to responsibility and what becomes Himself
God judges sins according
to the responsibility of those who are judged. But in the
sovereign work of grace God judges of sin in those who
approach Him, not according to what becomes man, but what
becomes Himself. He dwelt in the midst of Israel, and
Israel must be judged according to what becomes God's
presence: our privileges are the measure of our
responsibility. Men admit to their society what becomes
themselves, and do not admit the base and corrupt,
allowing their evil, because it is suited to their estate
so to act. And is God alone to profane His presence by
acting otherwise? Is all the evil which man's corruption
leads him into to find its sanction only in the presence
of God? No; God must (in order to make us happy by His
presence) judge evil, all evil, according to His presence,
so as to exclude it from it. Has the moral stupidity,
which is the effect of sin, made us ignorant of it in
ourselves? Is God to become blind because sin has made us
so—to dishonour Himself and make others miserable,
and all holy joy impossible everywhere, even in His
presence; to let pass the evil? Impossible. No; all is
judged, and judged in the believer according to the place
grace has brought him into.
God's compassion
does not change His just judgment of evil
God is ignorant of nothing,
and evil, however hidden to us, is evil to Him. "All
things are naked and open before the eyes of him with
whom we have to do." He may have compassion,
enlighten by His Spirit, provide a way of approach so
that the greatest sinner may come, restore the soul that
has wandered, take account of the degree of spiritual
light, where light is honestly sought; but that does not
change His judgment of evil. "The priest shall make
an atonement for him concerning his sin wherein he erred
and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a
trespass-offering; he hath certainly trespassed against
Jehovah."
Differences in the
details of the sin-offerings
I have now to remark
certain differences in these sin-offerings full of
interest to us in the detail.
The bodies of those in
which the whole people, or the high priest (which came to
the same thing, for the communion of the whole body was
interrupted), were concerned, were burnt without the camp;
not those for individuals, nor those which were for a
sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire, though the whole
were burnt. But those for the high priest, or the whole
people were: they had been made sin, and were carried out
of the camp as such. The sacrifice itself was without
blemish, and the fat was burnt on the altar; but, the
offender having confessed his sins on its head, it was
viewed as bearing these sins, and made sin of God, was
taken without the camp; as Jesus (as the epistle to the
Hebrews applies it) suffered without the gate, that He
might sanctify the people with His own blood. This was
always the case when the blood was brought into the
sanctuary for sin.
One of the sacrifices, of
which I do not enter into the details here, was
abstractedly and altogether viewed in this light of sin,
and was slain and burnt, fat and blood (part of the blood
having been first sprinkled at the door of the tabernacle),
and every part of it, without the camp. This was the red
heifer.
In the three other
sacrifices, which concerned the whole people, the bodies
were burnt indeed without the camp, but the connection
with the perfect acceptance of Christ in His work, as
offering Himself, was preserved, in the burning of the
fat on the altar of burnt-offering, and thus gave us the
full sense of how He had been made sin indeed, but that
it was He who knew no sin, and whose offering in His most
inmost thoughts and nature was in the trial of God's
judgment perfectly agreeable. But though the fat was
burnt on the altar to maintain this association and the
unity of the sacrifice of Christ, yet, maintaining the
general character and purpose of the diversity, it is not
habitually called [2] a
sweet savour to Jehovah.
The
sacrifice of the great day of atonement
There was a difference,
however, between one of the three last-mentioned
sacrifices, the sacrifice of the great day of atonement,
and the two others mentioned in the beginning of
Leviticus 4. In the sacrifice of the great day of
expiation the blood was carried within the veil; for this
was the foundation of all other sacrifices, of all
relationship between God and Israel, and enabled God to
dwell among them so as to receive the others. Its
efficacy lasted throughout the year—for us, for ever—as
the apostle reasons in the Hebrews; and on it was based
all the intercourse between God and the people. Hence the
blood of it was sprinkled on the mercy-seat, to be for
ever before the eyes of Him, whose throne of grace, as of
righteousness, that mercy-seat was thus to be. And God,
by virtue of it, dwelt among the people, careless and
rebellious as they were.
The efficacy of
the blood of Jesus
Such also is the efficacy
of the blood of Jesus. It is for ever on the mercy-seat,
efficacious as the ground of the relationship between us
and God. The other sin-offerings referred to were to
restore the communion of those who were in this
relationship. Hence, in Leviticus 4: 1-21, the blood was
sprinkled on the altar of incense, which was the symbol
of the exercise of this communion; the residue poured out,
as habitually in the sacrifices, at the altar of burnt-offering—the
place of accepted sacrifice; the body, as we have seen,
was burnt. In the case of the offerings for the sin and
trespass of an individual the communion of the body was
not directly in question or interrupted, but the
individual was deprived of the enjoyment of it. Hence the
altar of incense was not defiled or incapacitated, as it
were, in its use; on the contrary it was continually used.
The blood of these sacrifices, therefore, was put on the
horns of the altar of burnt-offering, which was always
the place of individual approach. Here, by Christ and the
efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ once offered, every
individual soul approaches; and, being thus accepted,
enjoys all the blessing and the privileges of which the
church at large is continually in possession. But for us
the veil is rent, and as to conscience of guilt we are
perfected for ever. If our walk be defiled, water by the
word restores the communion of our souls, and that with
the Father and with His Son.
To speak of resprinkling
of blood consequently upsets the real position of the
Christian, and throws him back on his own imperfect state
as to acceptance and righteousness. There may be a
repeated remedy, but one who is on that ground drops the
question of holiness, and makes continuous righteousness
in Christ uncertain. "Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity," is unknown in
such cases; as is also that the worshipper once
purged should have no more conscience of sins. Were
it so, as the apostle urges, Christ must have suffered
often. Without shedding of blood is no remission.
The perfect
identity between the priest and the victim
But there was another
circumstance in these sin-offerings for the individual.
The priest who offered the blood ate the victim. Thus
there was the most perfect identity between the priest,
and the victim which represented the sin of the offerer.
As Christ is both, the eating by the priest shews how He
did thus make it His own. Only, in Christ, what was thus
typified was first effected when victim, and the
priesthood, as exercised for us now in heaven, comes
after. Still this eating shews the heart of Christ taking
it up as He does for us when we fail, not merely its
being laid vicariously on Him, though then His heart took
up our cause. But He cared for the sheep.
Christ's advocacy
on high
The priest had not
committed the sin; on the contrary, he had made atonement
for it by the blood which he had sprinkled, but he
identified himself completely with it. Thus Christ,
giving us the most complete consolation—Himself
spotless, and who has made the atonement, yet identified
Himself with all our faults and sins, as the worshipper
in the peace-offering was identified with the acceptance
of the sacrifice. Only that now, the one offering having
been made once for all, if sin is in question, it is in
advocacy on high that He now takes it up, and in
connection with communion, not with imputation. There is
nothing more to do with sacrifice or blood sprinkling.
His service is founded on it.
Sin taken away,
communion restored
The fat was burnt on the
altar, where the priest was identified with the sin which
was on the offerer of the victim, but transferred to it.
It was lost, so to speak, and gone in the sacrifice. He
who drew nigh came with confession and humiliation, but,
as regarded guilt and judgment, it was taken up by the
priest through the victim; and, atonement having been
made, reached not the judgment-seat of God, so as further
to affect the relation between God and the offender. Yet
here it was perpetual repetition. Communion was restored
in the acceptance of the sacrifice, as the sin which
hindered the communion was entirely taken away, or served
only to renew (in a heart humbled into the dust, and
annihilated before the goodness of God) the communion
founded on goodness become infinitely more precious, and
established on the renewed sense of the riches and
security of that mediation there typically exhibited, but
which Christ has accomplished once for all, eternally for
us, as sacrifice, and makes good as to the blessings
flowing from it continually on high; not to change the
mind of God to us, but to secure our present communion
and enjoyment, in spite of our miseries and faults, in
the presence, the glory, and the love of Him who changes
not [3].
The sin-offering
stamped with the character of holiness
Some interesting
circumstances remain to be observed. It is remarkable
that nothing was so stamped with the character of
holiness, of entire, real separation to God, as the sin-offering.
In the other cases, perfect acceptance, a sweet savour,
and in some cases our leavened cakes, are found therewith
in the use of them; but all passed in the natural delight,
so to speak, which God took in what was perfect and
infinitely excellent, though it supposed sin and judgment
to be there; but here the most remarkable and exact
sanctions of its holiness were enjoined (Lev. 6: 26-28).
There was nothing in the whole work of Jesus which so
marked His entire and perfect separation to God His
positive holiness, as His bearing sin. He who knew no sin
alone could be made sin, and the act itself was the most
utter separation to God conceivable, yea, an act which no
thought of ours can fathom, to bear all, and to His glory.
It was a total consecration of Himself, at all cost, to
God's glory; as God, indeed, could accept nothing else.
And the victim must have been as perfect as the self-offering
was.
Christ as Sin-bearer
and Sin-offering
As a sacrifice then for
sins, and as made sin, Christ is specially holy; as
indeed, now in the power of this sacrifice, a Priest
present before God, making intercession, He is "holy,
harmless, separate from sinners, made higher than the
heavens." Yet, so truly was it a bearing of sins,
and viewed as made sin, that he who carried the goat
before his letting loose, and he that gathered the ashes
of the red heifer, and sprinkled the water of separation,
were unclean until even, and must wash to come into the
camp. Thus are these two great truths in the sin-offering
of Christ distinctly presented to us in these sacrifices.
For, indeed, how can we conceive a greater separation to
God, in Christ, than His offering Himself as a victim for
sin? And, on the other hand, had He not really borne our
sins in all their evil, He could not have put them away
really in the judgment.
Blessed for ever be His
name who has done it, and may we ever learn more His
perfectness in doing it!
Various aspects of
Christ in the sacrifices
We have, then, in these
sacrifices, Christ in His devotedness unto death; Christ
in the perfection of His life of consecration to God;
Christ, the basis of the communion of the people with God,
who feeds, as it were, at the same table with them; and
finally, Christ made sin for those who stood in need of
it, and bearing their sins in His own body on the tree.
We shall find that in the law of the offerings the
question is chiefly as to what was to be eaten in these
sacrifices, and by whom, and under what conditions.
The law of the
offerings: what was to be eaten, by whom, and under what
conditions
The burnt-offering and the
meat-offering for a priest were to be entirely burnt. It
is Christ Himself, offered wholly to God, who offers
Himself. As to the burnt-offering, the fire burnt all
night upon the altar and consumed the victim, the sweet-smelling
savour of which ascended thus to God, even during the
darkness, where man was far from Him, buried in sleep.
This too is true, I doubt not, as to Israel now. God has
the sweet savour of the sacrifice of Christ towards Him,
while the nation forgets Him. However this may be, the
only effect for us of the judgment of the holy majesty of
God—the fire of the Lord, now that Christ has
offered Himself, is to cause the sweet smell of this
precious sacrifice to ascend towards God.
Of the other sacrifices,
the meat-offering and the sin-offering, the priest ate.
The first pictures the saint in his priestly character
feeding on the perfectness of Christ; the last, Christ,
and even those who are His, as priests, in devoted love
and in sympathy with others, identifying themselves with
their sin and with the work of Christ for that sin. To
Him alone it was, of course, to bear that sin; but
founded on His work our hearts can take it up in a
priestly way before God. They are connected in grace with
it according to the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ;
they enjoy the grace of Christ therein. Christ entered
into it directly for us, we in grace into what He did.
This is, however, a solemn thing. It is only as priests
that we can participate in it, and in the consciousness
of what it means. The people ate of the peace-offerings,
which, though they were holy, did not require that
nearness to God. It was the joy of the communion of
believers, based on the redemption and the acceptance of
Christ. Therefore the directions for these of offerings
follow those given for the sacrifices for sin and
trespass, although the peace-offering comes before the
sin-offering in the order of the sacrifices, because, in
the former, it required to be a priest to partake of them.
There are things which we do as priests; there are others
which we do as simple believers.
[1] Only we must
always remember that in Christ it has been done once for
all. We have only a shadow of good things to come, and in
certain points, as in this, contrast—a contrast
fully developed in Hebrews 10. In Hebrews, however, it is
not restoration after failure, but perfecting for ever,
in the conscience, which takes the place of repeated
sacrifice. The restoration of communion on failure is
found in 1 John 2:1, 2, founded on the righteous One
being before God for us, and the propitiation made.
[2] There is one case
only where it is, Lev. 4: 31.
[3] There are points
in the New Testament it may be well to notice here. The
Hebrews views the Christian as walking down here in
weakness and trial, but as perfected for ever by the work
of Christ, no more conscience of sins, and the priesthood
is exercised not to restore communion, but to find mercy
and grace to help. 1 John speaks of communion with the
Father and Son. This is interrupted by any sin, and
Christ is our Advocate with the Father to restore it. The
Hebrews is occupied with access to God within the veil,
the conscience being perfect, and we enter with boldness,
hence failure and restoration are not in question. The
Father is not spoken of. In John, as I have said, it is
communion and the actual state of the soul is in question.
And it is so true that it is the standing in Hebrews,
that if one falls away, restoration is impossible. In the
tabernacle there was no going within the veil. No such
standing was revealed, and priesthood and communion as
far as enjoyed were mingled together, the Father unknown.
Leviticus 6 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
The sin- and trespass-offerings; their difference from the sacrifices of sweet savour
We come now to the sacrifices which were not sacrifices of sweet savour—the sin and trespass-offerings, alike in the great principle, though differing in character and detail: this difference we will notice. But first a very important principle must be noticed. The sacrifices of which we have spoken, the sacrifices of sweet savour, presented the identity of the offerer and the victim: this identity was signified by the laying on of the hands of the worshippers. But in those sacrifices the worshipper came as an offerer, whether Christ or one led by the Spirit of Christ, and so identified with Him in presenting himself to God—came of his own voluntary will, and was identified as a worshipper with the acceptability and acceptance of his victim.
The sin-offering brought by a sinner, coming as having guilt upon him
In the case of the sin-offering, there was the same principle of identity with the victim by laying on of hands; but he who came, came not as a worshipper, but as a sinner; not as clean for communion with the Lord, but as having guilt upon him; and instead of his being identified with the acceptability of the victim, though that became subsequently true, the victim became identified with his guilt and unacceptableness, bore his sins and was treated accordingly. This was completely the case where the sin-offering was purely such. I have added, "though that became subsequently true," because in many of the sin-offerings a certain part identified them with the acceptableness of Christ, which, in Him who united in His Person the virtue of all the sacrifices, could never be lost sight of. The distinction between the identity of the victim with the sin of the guilty, and the identity of the worshipper with the acceptance of the victim, marks the difference of these sacrifices and of the double aspect of the work of Christ very clearly.
Four classes of sin and trespass offerings
I now come to the details. There were four ordinary classes of sin and trespass-offerings, besides two very important special offerings, of which we may speak hereafter: sins where natural conscience was violated; that which became evil by the ordinance of the Lord, as uncleannesses which made the worshipper inadmissible, and other things (this had a mixed character of sin and trespass, and is called by both names); wrongs done to the Lord in His holy things; and wrongs done to the neighbour by breaches of confidence and the like. The first class is in Leviticus 4; the second, attached to it, down to verse 13 of chapter 5; the third, from verse 14 to the end; the fourth, in the first seven verses of chapter 6.
Interrupted communion between God and His people distinguished from individual sin and loss
The two other remarkable examples of sin-offering were the day of expiation, and the red heifer, which demand an examination apart. The circumstances of the offering were simple. In the case of the high priest and the body of the people sinning, it is evident that all communion was interrupted. It was not merely the restoration of the individual to communion which was needed, but the restoration of communion between God and the whole people; not the forming a relation (the day of atonement effected that), but the re-establishment of interrupted communion. Hence the blood was sprinkled before the veil seven times for the perfect restoration of this communion, and the blood also put on the horns of the altar of incense.
When the sin was individual, the communion of the people in general was not interrupted, but the individual had lost his enjoyment of the blessing. The blood was sprinkled therefore, not where the priest approached—at the altar of incense; but where the individual did—at the altar of burnt-offering. The efficacy of the sin-offering of Christ is needed, but has been once for all accomplished, for every fault; but the communion of the worshipping body of the church, though lamed and hindered, is not cut off by the individual sin; but when this is known, restoration is needed and the offering demanded [1]. That the Lord may punish the whole congregation, if the sin lie undetected, we know; for He did so in Achan. That is, the power belonging to a state in which God is ungrieved, is enfeebled and lost, and where conscience is awake and the heart interested in the blessing of God's people, this leads to search out the cause. But this is connected with the government of God; the imputation of sin as guilt is another matter, but sin in itself has always its own character with God. "Israel," said He, "hath sinned;" but Achan only suffers when the evil is known and purged, and blessing returns, though with much greater difficulty. The truth is, that He who knows how to unite general government with particular judgment, even where there is general faithfulness, puts in evidence individual evil, or permits it not (a yet higher and happier case); and, on the other hand, can employ the sin of the individual as a means of chastening the whole.
God can let nothing pass
Indeed it appears to me very clear, in the case alluded to, that, though the occasion of the chastening is evident in the sin of Achan, Israel had shewn a confidence in human strength which was chastised and shewn vain in the result, as divine strength was shewn all-sufficient in Jericho. However that is, it is evident from the detail of these sin-offerings that God can let nothing pass; He can forgive all and cleanse from all, but let nothing pass. The sin hidden to a man's self is not hidden to God; and why is it hidden to himself, but that negligence, the fruit of sin, has stupified his spiritual intelligence and attention?
God judges sins according to responsibility and what becomes Himself
God judges sins according to the responsibility of those who are judged. But in the sovereign work of grace God judges of sin in those who approach Him, not according to what becomes man, but what becomes Himself. He dwelt in the midst of Israel, and Israel must be judged according to what becomes God's presence: our privileges are the measure of our responsibility. Men admit to their society what becomes themselves, and do not admit the base and corrupt, allowing their evil, because it is suited to their estate so to act. And is God alone to profane His presence by acting otherwise? Is all the evil which man's corruption leads him into to find its sanction only in the presence of God? No; God must (in order to make us happy by His presence) judge evil, all evil, according to His presence, so as to exclude it from it. Has the moral stupidity, which is the effect of sin, made us ignorant of it in ourselves? Is God to become blind because sin has made us so—to dishonour Himself and make others miserable, and all holy joy impossible everywhere, even in His presence; to let pass the evil? Impossible. No; all is judged, and judged in the believer according to the place grace has brought him into.
God's compassion does not change His just judgment of evil
God is ignorant of nothing, and evil, however hidden to us, is evil to Him. "All things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do." He may have compassion, enlighten by His Spirit, provide a way of approach so that the greatest sinner may come, restore the soul that has wandered, take account of the degree of spiritual light, where light is honestly sought; but that does not change His judgment of evil. "The priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a trespass-offering; he hath certainly trespassed against Jehovah."
Differences in the details of the sin-offerings
I have now to remark certain differences in these sin-offerings full of interest to us in the detail.
The bodies of those in which the whole people, or the high priest (which came to the same thing, for the communion of the whole body was interrupted), were concerned, were burnt without the camp; not those for individuals, nor those which were for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire, though the whole were burnt. But those for the high priest, or the whole people were: they had been made sin, and were carried out of the camp as such. The sacrifice itself was without blemish, and the fat was burnt on the altar; but, the offender having confessed his sins on its head, it was viewed as bearing these sins, and made sin of God, was taken without the camp; as Jesus (as the epistle to the Hebrews applies it) suffered without the gate, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood. This was always the case when the blood was brought into the sanctuary for sin.
One of the sacrifices, of which I do not enter into the details here, was abstractedly and altogether viewed in this light of sin, and was slain and burnt, fat and blood (part of the blood having been first sprinkled at the door of the tabernacle), and every part of it, without the camp. This was the red heifer.
In the three other sacrifices, which concerned the whole people, the bodies were burnt indeed without the camp, but the connection with the perfect acceptance of Christ in His work, as offering Himself, was preserved, in the burning of the fat on the altar of burnt-offering, and thus gave us the full sense of how He had been made sin indeed, but that it was He who knew no sin, and whose offering in His most inmost thoughts and nature was in the trial of God's judgment perfectly agreeable. But though the fat was burnt on the altar to maintain this association and the unity of the sacrifice of Christ, yet, maintaining the general character and purpose of the diversity, it is not habitually called [2] a sweet savour to Jehovah.
The sacrifice of the great day of atonement
There was a difference, however, between one of the three last-mentioned sacrifices, the sacrifice of the great day of atonement, and the two others mentioned in the beginning of Leviticus 4. In the sacrifice of the great day of expiation the blood was carried within the veil; for this was the foundation of all other sacrifices, of all relationship between God and Israel, and enabled God to dwell among them so as to receive the others. Its efficacy lasted throughout the year—for us, for ever—as the apostle reasons in the Hebrews; and on it was based all the intercourse between God and the people. Hence the blood of it was sprinkled on the mercy-seat, to be for ever before the eyes of Him, whose throne of grace, as of righteousness, that mercy-seat was thus to be. And God, by virtue of it, dwelt among the people, careless and rebellious as they were.
The efficacy of the blood of Jesus
Such also is the efficacy of the blood of Jesus. It is for ever on the mercy-seat, efficacious as the ground of the relationship between us and God. The other sin-offerings referred to were to restore the communion of those who were in this relationship. Hence, in Leviticus 4: 1-21, the blood was sprinkled on the altar of incense, which was the symbol of the exercise of this communion; the residue poured out, as habitually in the sacrifices, at the altar of burnt-offering—the place of accepted sacrifice; the body, as we have seen, was burnt. In the case of the offerings for the sin and trespass of an individual the communion of the body was not directly in question or interrupted, but the individual was deprived of the enjoyment of it. Hence the altar of incense was not defiled or incapacitated, as it were, in its use; on the contrary it was continually used. The blood of these sacrifices, therefore, was put on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, which was always the place of individual approach. Here, by Christ and the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ once offered, every individual soul approaches; and, being thus accepted, enjoys all the blessing and the privileges of which the church at large is continually in possession. But for us the veil is rent, and as to conscience of guilt we are perfected for ever. If our walk be defiled, water by the word restores the communion of our souls, and that with the Father and with His Son.
To speak of resprinkling of blood consequently upsets the real position of the Christian, and throws him back on his own imperfect state as to acceptance and righteousness. There may be a repeated remedy, but one who is on that ground drops the question of holiness, and makes continuous righteousness in Christ uncertain. "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity," is unknown in such cases; as is also that the worshipper once purged should have no more conscience of sins. Were it so, as the apostle urges, Christ must have suffered often. Without shedding of blood is no remission.
The perfect identity between the priest and the victim
But there was another circumstance in these sin-offerings for the individual. The priest who offered the blood ate the victim. Thus there was the most perfect identity between the priest, and the victim which represented the sin of the offerer. As Christ is both, the eating by the priest shews how He did thus make it His own. Only, in Christ, what was thus typified was first effected when victim, and the priesthood, as exercised for us now in heaven, comes after. Still this eating shews the heart of Christ taking it up as He does for us when we fail, not merely its being laid vicariously on Him, though then His heart took up our cause. But He cared for the sheep.
Christ's advocacy on high
The priest had not committed the sin; on the contrary, he had made atonement for it by the blood which he had sprinkled, but he identified himself completely with it. Thus Christ, giving us the most complete consolation—Himself spotless, and who has made the atonement, yet identified Himself with all our faults and sins, as the worshipper in the peace-offering was identified with the acceptance of the sacrifice. Only that now, the one offering having been made once for all, if sin is in question, it is in advocacy on high that He now takes it up, and in connection with communion, not with imputation. There is nothing more to do with sacrifice or blood sprinkling. His service is founded on it.
Sin taken away, communion restored
The fat was burnt on the altar, where the priest was identified with the sin which was on the offerer of the victim, but transferred to it. It was lost, so to speak, and gone in the sacrifice. He who drew nigh came with confession and humiliation, but, as regarded guilt and judgment, it was taken up by the priest through the victim; and, atonement having been made, reached not the judgment-seat of God, so as further to affect the relation between God and the offender. Yet here it was perpetual repetition. Communion was restored in the acceptance of the sacrifice, as the sin which hindered the communion was entirely taken away, or served only to renew (in a heart humbled into the dust, and annihilated before the goodness of God) the communion founded on goodness become infinitely more precious, and established on the renewed sense of the riches and security of that mediation there typically exhibited, but which Christ has accomplished once for all, eternally for us, as sacrifice, and makes good as to the blessings flowing from it continually on high; not to change the mind of God to us, but to secure our present communion and enjoyment, in spite of our miseries and faults, in the presence, the glory, and the love of Him who changes not [3].
The sin-offering stamped with the character of holiness
Some interesting circumstances remain to be observed. It is remarkable that nothing was so stamped with the character of holiness, of entire, real separation to God, as the sin-offering. In the other cases, perfect acceptance, a sweet savour, and in some cases our leavened cakes, are found therewith in the use of them; but all passed in the natural delight, so to speak, which God took in what was perfect and infinitely excellent, though it supposed sin and judgment to be there; but here the most remarkable and exact sanctions of its holiness were enjoined (Lev. 6: 26-28). There was nothing in the whole work of Jesus which so marked His entire and perfect separation to God His positive holiness, as His bearing sin. He who knew no sin alone could be made sin, and the act itself was the most utter separation to God conceivable, yea, an act which no thought of ours can fathom, to bear all, and to His glory. It was a total consecration of Himself, at all cost, to God's glory; as God, indeed, could accept nothing else. And the victim must have been as perfect as the self-offering was.
Christ as Sin-bearer and Sin-offering
As a sacrifice then for sins, and as made sin, Christ is specially holy; as indeed, now in the power of this sacrifice, a Priest present before God, making intercession, He is "holy, harmless, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens." Yet, so truly was it a bearing of sins, and viewed as made sin, that he who carried the goat before his letting loose, and he that gathered the ashes of the red heifer, and sprinkled the water of separation, were unclean until even, and must wash to come into the camp. Thus are these two great truths in the sin-offering of Christ distinctly presented to us in these sacrifices. For, indeed, how can we conceive a greater separation to God, in Christ, than His offering Himself as a victim for sin? And, on the other hand, had He not really borne our sins in all their evil, He could not have put them away really in the judgment.
Blessed for ever be His name who has done it, and may we ever learn more His perfectness in doing it!
Various aspects of Christ in the sacrifices
We have, then, in these sacrifices, Christ in His devotedness unto death; Christ in the perfection of His life of consecration to God; Christ, the basis of the communion of the people with God, who feeds, as it were, at the same table with them; and finally, Christ made sin for those who stood in need of it, and bearing their sins in His own body on the tree. We shall find that in the law of the offerings the question is chiefly as to what was to be eaten in these sacrifices, and by whom, and under what conditions.
The law of the offerings: what was to be eaten, by whom, and under what conditions
The burnt-offering and the meat-offering for a priest were to be entirely burnt. It is Christ Himself, offered wholly to God, who offers Himself. As to the burnt-offering, the fire burnt all night upon the altar and consumed the victim, the sweet-smelling savour of which ascended thus to God, even during the darkness, where man was far from Him, buried in sleep. This too is true, I doubt not, as to Israel now. God has the sweet savour of the sacrifice of Christ towards Him, while the nation forgets Him. However this may be, the only effect for us of the judgment of the holy majesty of God—the fire of the Lord, now that Christ has offered Himself, is to cause the sweet smell of this precious sacrifice to ascend towards God.
Of the other sacrifices, the meat-offering and the sin-offering, the priest ate. The first pictures the saint in his priestly character feeding on the perfectness of Christ; the last, Christ, and even those who are His, as priests, in devoted love and in sympathy with others, identifying themselves with their sin and with the work of Christ for that sin. To Him alone it was, of course, to bear that sin; but founded on His work our hearts can take it up in a priestly way before God. They are connected in grace with it according to the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ; they enjoy the grace of Christ therein. Christ entered into it directly for us, we in grace into what He did. This is, however, a solemn thing. It is only as priests that we can participate in it, and in the consciousness of what it means. The people ate of the peace-offerings, which, though they were holy, did not require that nearness to God. It was the joy of the communion of believers, based on the redemption and the acceptance of Christ. Therefore the directions for these of offerings follow those given for the sacrifices for sin and trespass, although the peace-offering comes before the sin-offering in the order of the sacrifices, because, in the former, it required to be a priest to partake of them. There are things which we do as priests; there are others which we do as simple believers.
[1] Only we must always remember that in Christ it has been done once for all. We have only a shadow of good things to come, and in certain points, as in this, contrast—a contrast fully developed in Hebrews 10. In Hebrews, however, it is not restoration after failure, but perfecting for ever, in the conscience, which takes the place of repeated sacrifice. The restoration of communion on failure is found in 1 John 2:1, 2, founded on the righteous One being before God for us, and the propitiation made.
[2] There is one case only where it is, Lev. 4: 31.
[3] There are points in the New Testament it may be well to notice here. The Hebrews views the Christian as walking down here in weakness and trial, but as perfected for ever by the work of Christ, no more conscience of sins, and the priesthood is exercised not to restore communion, but to find mercy and grace to help. 1 John speaks of communion with the Father and Son. This is interrupted by any sin, and Christ is our Advocate with the Father to restore it. The Hebrews is occupied with access to God within the veil, the conscience being perfect, and we enter with boldness, hence failure and restoration are not in question. The Father is not spoken of. In John, as I have said, it is communion and the actual state of the soul is in question. And it is so true that it is the standing in Hebrews, that if one falls away, restoration is impossible. In the tabernacle there was no going within the veil. No such standing was revealed, and priesthood and communion as far as enjoyed were mingled together, the Father unknown.