groups, which may be classed as vernal and autumnal, the one group
belonging to the first and third months, the other to the seventh.
They divided the year into two portions, the intervals between them
being the time of great heat and the time of rain and storm. The
month Abib, with which the year began, corresponded generally to our
April; but its opening, depending on the new moon, might be earlier
or later. One of the ceremonies of the festival season of this month
was the presentation, on the sixteenth day, of the first sheaf of
harvest; and seven weeks afterwards, at Pentecost, cakes made from
the first dough were offered. The explanation of what may appear to
be autumnal offerings in spring is to be found in the early ripening
of corn throughout Palestine. The cereals were all reaped during
the interval between Passover and Pentecost. The autumnal festival
celebrated the gathering in of the vintage and fruits.
The Passover, the first great feast, a sacrament rather, is merely
mentioned in this portion of Numbers. It was chiefly a domestic
celebration--not priestly--and had a most impressive significance,
of which the eating of the lamb with bitter herbs was the symbol.
The day after it, the "feast of unleavened bread" began. For a whole
week leaven was to be abjured. On the first day of the feast there
was to be a holy convocation, and no servile work was to be done. The
closing day likewise was to be one of holy convocation. On each of
the seven days the offerings were to be two young bullocks, one ram,
and seven yearling he-lambs, with their meal and drink offerings,
and for sin one he-goat to make atonement.
The week of this festival, commencing with the paschal sacrament, was
made to bear peculiarly on the national life, first by the command
that all leaven should be rigidly kept out of the houses. As the
ceremonial law assumed more importance with the growth of Pharisaism,
this cleansing was sought quite fanatically. Any crumb of common bread
was reckoned an accursed thing which might deprive the observance of
the feast of its good effect. But even in the time of less scrupulous
legalism the effort to extirpate leaven from the houses had its
singular effect on the people. It was one of the many causes which
made Jewish religion intense. Then the daily sacrificial routine, and
especially the holy convocations of the first and seventh days, were
profoundly solemnising. We may picture thus the ceremonies and worship
of these great days of the feast. The people, gathered from all parts
of the land, crowded the outer court of the sanctuary. The priests and
Levites stood ready around the altar. With solemn chanting the animals
were brought from some place behind the temple where they had been
carefully examined so that no blemish might impair the sacrifice. Then
they were slain one by one, and prepared, the fire on the great altar
blazing more and more brightly in readiness for the holocaust, while
the blood flowed away in a red stream, staining the hands and garments
of those who officiated. First the two bullocks, then the ram, then the
lambs were one after another placed on the flames, each with incense
and part of the meal offering. The sin offering followed. Some of the
blood of the he-goat was taken by the priest and sprinkled on the inner
altar, on the veil of the Holy of Holies, and on the horns of the
great altar, around which the rest was poured. The fat of the animal,
including certain of the internal parts, was thrown on the fire; and
this portion of the observances ended with the pouring out of the last
drink offering before the Lord. Then a chorus of praise was lifted up,
the people throwing themselves on the ground and praying in a low,
earnest monotone.
To this followed in the later times singing of chants and psalms, led
by the chorus of Levites, addresses to the people, and shorter or
longer prayers to which the worshippers responded. The officiating
priest, standing beside the great altar in view of all, now pronounced
the appointed blessing on the people. But his task was still not
complete. He went into the sanctuary, and, having by his entrance and
safe return from the holy place shown that the sacrifice had been
accepted, he spoke to the assembly a few words of simple and sublime
import. Finally, with repeated blessing, he gave the dismissal. On one
or both of these occasions the form of benediction used was that which
we have found preserved in the sixth chapter of this book.[13]
It is evident that celebrations like these, into which, as time went
on, the mass of worshippers entered with increased fervour, gave
the feast of unleavened bread an extraordinary importance in the
national life. The young Hebrew looked forward to it with the keenest
expectancy, and was not disappointed. So long as faith remained, and
especially in crises of the history of Israel, the earnestness that
was developed carried every soul along. And now that the Israelites
bewail the loss of temple and country, reckoning themselves a martyred
people, this feast and the more solemn day of atonement nerve them to
endurance and reassure them of their hope. They are separate still.
They are Jehovah's people still. The covenant remains. The Messiah will
come and bring them new life and power. So they vehemently cling to the
past and dream of a future that shall never be.
* * * * *
"The day of the firstfruits" was, according to Lev. xxiii. 15, the
fiftieth day from the morrow after the passover sabbath. The special
harvest offering of this "feast of weeks" is thus enjoined: "Ye shall
bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth parts
of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baken with
leaven, for firstfruits unto the Lord" (Lev. xxiii. 17). According
to Leviticus one bullock, two rams, and seven lambs; according to
Numbers two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, were to be sacrificed
as whole offerings; the difference being apparently that of varying
usage at an earlier and later time. The sin offering of the he-goat
followed the burnt offerings. The day of the feast was one of holy
convocation; and it has peculiar interest for us as the day on which
the pentecostal effusion of the Spirit came on the gathering of
Christians in the upper room at Jerusalem. The joyous character of
this festival was signified by the use of leaven in the cakes or
loaves that were presented as firstfruits. The people rejoiced in the
blessing of another harvest, the fulfilment once more by Jehovah of
His promise to supply the needs of His flock. It will be seen that
in every case the sin offering prescribed is a single he-goat. This
particular sacrifice was distinguished from the whole offerings, the
thank offerings, and the peace offerings, which were not limited in
number. "It must stand," says Ewald, "in perfect isolation, as though
in the midst of sad solitude and desolation, with nothing similar or
comparable by its side." Why a he-goat was invariably ordered for this
expiatory sacrifice it is difficult to say. And the question is not
made more easy by the peculiar rite of the great day of atonement, when
besides the goat of the sin offering for Jehovah another was devoted to
"Azazel." Perhaps the choice of this animal implied its fitness in some
way to represent transgression, wilfulness, and rebellion. The he-goat,
more wild and rough than any other of the flock, seemed to belong to
the desert and to the spirit of evil.
* * * * *
From the festivals of spring we now pass to those of autumn, the first
of which coincided with the New Moon of the seventh month. This was to
be a day of holy convocation, on which no servile work should be done,
and it was marked by a special blowing of trumpets over the sacrifices.
From other passages it would appear that the trumpets were used on
the occasion of every new moon; and there must have been a longer and
more elaborate service of festival music to distinguish the seventh.
The offerings prescribed for it were numerous. Those enjoined for the
opening of the other months were two bullocks, one ram, seven he-lambs
and the he-goat of the sin offering. To these were now added one
bullock, one ram, and seven he-lambs. Altogether, including the daily
sacrifices which were never omitted, twenty-two animals were offered;
and with each sacrifice, except the he-goat, fine flour mingled with
oil and a drink offering of wine had to be presented.
There seems no reason to doubt that the seventh month was opened in
this impressive way because of the great festivals ordained to be
held in the course of it. The labour of the year was practically
over, and more than any other the month was given up to festivity
associated with religion. It was the seventh or sabbath month,
forming the "exalted summit of the year, for which all preceding
festivals prepared the way, and after which everything quietly came
down to the ordinary course of life." The trumpets blown in joyful
peals over the sacrifices, the offering of which must have gone on
for many hours, inspired the assembly with gladness, and signified
the gratitude and hope of the nation.
But the joy of the seventh month thus begun did not go on without
interruption. The tenth day was one of special solemnity and serious
thought. It was the great day of confession, for on it, in the
holy convocation, the people were to "afflict their souls." The
transgressions and failures of the year were to be acknowledged with
sorrow. From the evening of the ninth day to the evening of the tenth
there was to be a rigid fast--the one fast which the law ordained.
Before the full gladness of Jehovah's favour can be realised by
Israel all those sins of neglect and forgetfulness which have been
accumulating for twelve months must be confessed, bewailed, and taken
away. There are those who have become unclean without being aware
of their defilement; those who have unwittingly broken the Sabbath
law; those who have for some reason been unable to keep the passover,
or who have kept it imperfectly; others again have failed to render
tithes of all the produce of their land according to the law; and
priests and Levites called to a high consecration have come short
of their duty. With such defects and sins of error the nation is to
charge itself, each individual acknowledging his own faults. Unless
this is done a shadow must lie on the life of the people; they cannot
enjoy the light of the countenance of God.
For this day the whole offerings are, one young bullock, one ram,
seven he-lambs; and there is this peculiarity, that, besides a
he-goat for a sin offering, there is to be provided another he-goat,
"for atonement." Maimonides says that the second he-goat is not that
"for Azazel," but the fellow of it, the one on which the lot had
fallen "for Jehovah." Leviticus again informs us that Aaron was to
sacrifice a bullock as a sin offering for himself and his house. And
it was the blood of this bullock and of the second he-goat he was
to take and sprinkle on the ark and before the mercy-seat. Further,
it is prescribed that the bodies of these animals are to be carried
forth without the camp and wholly burned--as if the sin clinging to
them had made them unfit for use in any way.
The great atonement thus made, the reaction of joy set in. Nothing in
Jewish worship exceeded the solemnity of the fast, and in contrast
with that the gladness of the forgiven multitude. Another crisis
was past, another year of Jehovah's favour had begun. Those who had
been prostrate in sorrow and fear rose up to sing their hallelujahs.
"The deep seriousness of the Day of Atonement," says Delitzsch, "was
transformed on the evening of the same day into lighthearted merriment.
The observance in the temple was accomplished in a significant drama
which was fascinating from beginning to end. When the high priest came
forth from the Most Holy Place, after the performance of his functions
there, this was for the people a consolatory, gladsome sight, for
which poetry can find no adequate words: 'Like the peace-proclaiming
arch in painted clouds; like the morning star, when he arises from the
eastern twilight; like the sun, when opening his bud, he unfolds in
roseate hue.' When the solemnity was over, the high priest was escorted
with a guard of honour to his dwelling in the city, where a banquet
awaited his more immediate friends." The young people repaired to the
vineyards, the maidens arrayed in simple white, and the day was closed
with song and dancing.[14]
This description reminds us of the mingling of elements in the old
Scottish fast-days, closing as they did with a simple entertainment
in the manse.
* * * * *
The feast of tabernacles continued the gladness of the ransomed
people. It began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, with
a holy convocation and a holocaust of no fewer than twenty-nine
animals, in addition to the daily sacrifice, and a he-goat for a sin
offering. The number of bullocks, which was thirteen on this opening
day of the feast, was reduced by one each day till on the seventh day
seven bullocks were sacrificed. But two rams and fourteen he-lambs
were offered each day of the feast, and the he-goat for expiation,
besides the continual burnt offering. The celebration ended, so far
as sacrifices were concerned, on the eighth day with a special burnt
offering of one bullock, one ram, and seven he-lambs, returning thus
to the number appointed for New Moon.
It will be noticed that on the closing day there was to be a "solemn
assembly." It was "the great day of the feast" (John vii. 37). The
people who during the week had lived in the booths or arbours which
they had made, now dismantled them and went on pilgrimage to the
sanctuary. The opening of the festival came to be of a striking
kind. "One could see," says Professor Franz Delitzsch, "even before
the dawn of the first day of the feast, if this was not a Sabbath,
a joyous throng pouring forth from the Jaffa Gate at Jerusalem. The
verdure of the orchards, refreshed with the first showers of the early
rain, is hailed by the people with shouts of joy as they scatter on
either side of the bridge which crosses the brook fringed with tall
poplar-osiers, some in order with their own hands to pluck branches for
the festal display, others to look at the men who have been honoured
with the commission to fetch from Kolonia the festal leafy adornment
of the altar. They seek out right long and goodly branches of these
poplar-osiers, and cut them off, and then the reunited host returns in
procession, with exultant shouts and singing and jesting, to Jerusalem,
as far as the Temple hill, where the great branches of poplar-osier are
received by the priests and set upright around the sides of the altar,
so that they bend over it with their tips. Priestly trumpet-clang
resounded during this decoration of the altar with foliage, and they
went on that feast day once, on the seventh day seven times, around
the altar with willow branches, or the festive posy entwined of a palm
branch and branches of myrtles and willows, amidst the usual festive
shouts of Hosanna; exclaiming after the completed encircling, 'Beauty
becomes thee, O Altar! Beauty becomes thee, O Altar!'" So, in later
times, the festival began and was sustained, each worshipper carrying
boughs and fruit of the citron and other trees. But the eighth day
brought all this to a close. The huts were taken down, the worshippers
sought the house of God for prayer and thanksgiving. The reading of the
Law which had been going on day by day concluded; and the sin offering
fitly ended the season of joy with expiation of the guilt of the people
in their holy things.
* * * * *
The series of sacrifices appointed for days and weeks and months and
years required a large number of animals and no small liberality.
They did not, however, represent more than a small proportion of
the offerings which were brought to the central sanctuary. Besides,
there were those connected with vows, the free-will offerings, meal
offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings (xxix. 39). And
taking all together it will be seen that the pastoral wealth of the
people was largely claimed. The explanation lies partly in this, that
among the Israelites, as among all races, "the things sacrificed were
of the same kind as those the worshippers desired to obtain from
God." The sin offering, however, had quite a different significance.
In this the sprinkling of the warm blood, representing the life blood
of the worshipper, carried thought into a range of sacred mystery
in which the awful claim of God on men was darkly realised. Here
sacrifice became a sacrament binding the worshippers by the most
solemn symbol imaginable--a vital symbol--to fidelity in the service
of Jehovah. Their faith and devotion expressed in the sacrifice
secured for them the Divine grace on which their well-being depended,
the blood-bought pardon that redeemed the soul. Among the Israelites
alone was expiation by blood made fully significant as the centre of
the whole system of worship.[15]
2. THE LAW OF VOWS
NUMBERS xxx
The general command regarding vows is that whosoever binds himself by
one, or takes an oath in regard to any promise, must at all hazards
keep his word. A man is allowed to judge for himself in vowing and
undertaking by oath, but he is to have the consequences in view, and
especially keep in mind that God is his witness. The matter scarcely
admitted of any other legislation, and neither here nor elsewhere is
any attempt made to lay penalties on those who broke their vows. To
use the Divine Name in an oath which was afterwards falsified brought
a man under the condemnation of the third commandment, a spiritual
doom. But the authorities could not give it effect. The transgressor
was left to the judgment of God.
With regard to vows and oaths the sophistry of the Jews and their
rabbis led them so far astray that our Lord had to lay down new
rules for the guidance of His followers. No doubt cases arose in
which it was exceedingly difficult to decide. One might vow with
good intention and find himself utterly unable to keep his promise,
or might find that to keep it would involve unforeseen injury to
others. But apart from circumstances of this sort there came to be
such a net-work of half-legalised evasions, and so many unseemly
discussions, that the purpose of the law was destroyed. Absolution
from vows was claimed as a prerogative by some rabbis; against this,
others protested. One would say that if a man vowed by Jerusalem or
by the Law he had said nothing; but if he vowed by what is written
in the Law, his words stood. The "wise men" declared four kinds of
vows not binding--incentive vows, as when a buyer vows that he will
not give more than a certain price in order to induce the seller to
take less; meaningless vows; thoughtless and compulsory vows. In such
ways the practice was reduced to ignominy. It even came to this,
that if a man wished to neutralise all the vows he might make in the
course of a year he had only to say at the beginning of it, on the
eve of the Day of Atonement, "Let every vow which I shall make be of
none effect," and he would be absolved. This immoral tangle was cut
through by the clear judgment of Christ: "Ye have heard that it was
said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt
perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at
all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the
earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech
be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the
evil one." In ordinary conversation and dealings Christ will have no
vows and oaths. Let men promise and perform, declare and stand to
their word. He lifts even ordinary life to a higher plane.
With regard to women's vows, four cases are made the subject of
enactment. First, there is the case of a young woman living in her
father's house, under his authority. If she vow unto the Lord, and bind
herself by a bond in the hearing of her father and he do not forbid,
her vow shall stand. It may involve expense to the father, or put him
and the family to inconvenience, but by silence he has allowed himself
to be bound. On the other hand, if he interpose and forbid the vow, the
daughter is released. The second case is that of a woman who at the
time of marriage is under a vow; and this is decided in the same way.
Her betrothed husband's silence, if he hears the promise, sanctions it;
his refusal to allow it gives discharge. The third instance is that
of a widow or a divorced woman, who must perform all she has solemnly
engaged to do. The last case is that of the married woman in her
husband's house, concerning whom it is decreed: "Every vow and every
binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her
husband may make it void.... If he shall make them null and void after
he hath heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity."
These regulations establish the headship of the father and the
husband in regard to matters which belong to religion. And the
significance of them lies in this, that no intrusion of the priest
is permitted. If the "Priests' Code" had been intended to set
up a hierocracy, these vows would have given the opportunity of
introducing priestly influence into family life. The provisions
appear to be designed for the very purpose of disallowing this. It
was seen that in the ardour of religious zeal women were disposed
to make large promises, dedicating their means, their children, or
perhaps their own lives to special service in connection with the
sanctuary. But the father or husband was the family head and the
judge. No countenance whatever is given to any official interference.
It would have been well if the wisdom of this law had ruled the
Church, preventing ecclesiastical dominance in family affairs.
The promises, the threats of a domineering Church have in many
cases introduced discord between daughters and parents, wives and
husbands. The amenability of women to religious motives has been
taken advantage of, always indeed with a plausible reason,--the
desire to save them from the world,--but far too often, really,
for political-ecclesiastical ends, or even from the base motive of
revenge. Ecclesiastics have found the opportunity of enriching the
Church or themselves, or, under cover of confession, have become
aware of secrets that placed families at their mercy. No practice
followed under the shield of religion and in its name deserves
stronger reprobation. The Church should, by every means in its
power, purify and uphold family life. To undermine the unity of
families by laying obligations on women, or obtaining promises apart
from the knowledge of those to whom they are bound in the closest
relationship, is an abuse of privilege. And the whole custom of
auricular confession comes under the charge. It may occasionally or
frequently be used with good intention, and lonely women without
trusted advisers among their kindred may see no other resource in
times of peculiar difficulty and trial. But the submission that forms
part of it is debasing, and the secrecy gives priesthood a power that
should belong to no body of men in dealing with the souls of their
fellow-creatures, and fellow-sinners. At the very best, confession to
a priest is a weak expedient.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] See Ewald's "Antiquities," p. 131, Solly's translation.
[14] _Expositor_, 3rd Series, vol. iv., p. 88.
[15] Ewald's "Antiquities," p. 40.
XXIV
_WAR AND SETTLEMENT_
1. THE WAR WITH MIDIAN
NUMBERS xxxi
The command to vex and smite the Midianites (xxv. 16) has already
been considered. Israel had not the spiritual power which would have
justified any attempt to convert that people. Degrading idolatry was to
be held in abhorrence, and those who clung to it suppressed. Now the
time comes for an exterminating war. While hordes of Bedawin occupy
the hills and the neighbouring desert, there can be no security either
for morals, property, or life. Balaam is among them plotting against
Israel; and his restless energy, we may suppose, precipitates the
conflict. Moses conveys the command of God that the attack on Midian
shall be immediately made, and himself directs the campaign.