This chapter unfolds some of the weightiest principles of truth which
can possibly engage the renewed mind. It presents the doctrine of
atonement with uncommon fullness and power. In short, we must rank the
sixteenth chapter of Leviticus amongst the most precious and important
sections of inspiration, if indeed it be allowable to make comparisons
where all is divine.
Looking at this chapter historically, it furnishes a record of the
transactions of the great day of atonement in Israel, whereby
Jehovah's relationship with the assembly was established and
maintained, and all the sins, failures, and infirmities of the people
fully atoned for, so that the Lord God might dwell among them. The
blood which was shed upon this solemn day formed the basis of
Jehovah's throne in the midst of the congregation. In virtue of it, a
holy God could take up His abode in the midst of the people,
notwithstanding all their uncleanness. "The tenth day of the seventh
month" was a unique day in Israel: there was no other day in the year
like it. The sacrifices of this one day formed the ground of God's
dealing in grace, mercy, patience, and forbearance.
Furthermore, we learn from this portion of inspired history, "that the
way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest." God was hidden
behind a vail, and man was at a distance. "And the Lord spake unto
Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered
before the Lord, and died; and the Lord said unto Moses, 'Speak unto
Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times unto the holy place
within the vail before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark, that he
die not; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.'"
The way was not open for man to approach at all times into the divine
presence, nor was there any provision, in the entire range of the
Mosaic ritual, for his abiding there continually. God was shut in from
man, and man was shut out from God; nor could "the blood of bulls and
goats" open a permanent meeting-place; "a sacrifice of nobler name and
richer blood" was needed to accomplish this. "For the law having a
shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not
have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."
(Heb. x. 1-4.) Neither the Levitical priesthood nor the Levitical
sacrifices could yield perfection. Insufficiency was stamped on the
latter, infirmity on the former, imperfection on both. An imperfect
man could not be a perfect priest; nor could an imperfect sacrifice
give a perfect conscience. Aaron was not competent or entitled to take
his seat within the vail, nor could the sacrifices which he offered
rend that vail.
Thus much as to our chapter historically: let us now look at it
typically.
"Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a
_sin_-offering, and a ram for a _burnt_-offering." (Ver. 3.) Here we
have the two grand aspects of Christ's atoning work--as that which
perfectly maintains the divine glory, and perfectly meets man's
deepest need. There is no mention, throughout all the services of this
unique and solemn day, of a _meat_-offering or a _peace_-offering. The
perfect human life of our blessed Lord is not foreshadowed here, nor
is the communion of the soul with God, consequent upon His
accomplished work, unfolded. In a word, the one grand subject is
"atonement," and that in a double way, namely, first, as meeting all
the claims of God--the claims of His nature, the claims of His
character, the claims of His throne; and secondly, as perfectly
meeting all man's guilt and all his necessities. We must bear these
two points in mind if we would have a clear understanding of the truth
presented in this chapter, or of the doctrine of the great day of
atonement. "Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place," with
atonement, as securing the glory of God in every possible way, whether
as respects His counsels of redeeming love toward the Church, toward
Israel, and toward the whole creation, or in reference to all the
claims of His moral administration; and with atonement as fully
meeting man's guilty and needy condition. These two aspects of the
atonement will continually present themselves to our view as we ponder
the precious contents of our chapter. Their importance cannot possibly
be over-estimated.
"He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen
breeches upon his flesh, and he shall be girded with a linen girdle,
and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments;
therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on." (Ver.
4.) Aaron's person, washed in pure water, and robed in the white linen
garments, furnishes a lovely and impressive type of Christ entering
upon the work of atonement. He is seen to be _personally_ and
_characteristically_ pure and spotless. "For their sakes I sanctify
Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John
xvii. 19.) It is peculiarly precious to be called, as it were, to gaze
upon the Person of our divine Priest, in all His essential holiness.
The Holy Ghost delights in every thing that unfolds Christ to the
view of His people; and wherever we behold Him, we see him to be the
same spotless, perfect, glorious, precious, peerless Jesus, "the
fairest among ten thousand, yea, altogether lovely." He did not need
to _do_ or to _wear_ any thing in order to be pure and spotless; He
needed no pure water, no fine linen; He was, intrinsically and
practically, "the holy One of God." What Aaron _did_, and what he
_wore_--the washing and the robing, are but the faint shadows of what
Christ _is_. The law had only a "shadow," and "not the very image of
good things to come." Blessed be God, we have not merely the shadow,
but the eternal and divine reality--Christ Himself.
"And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two
kids of the goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a
burnt-offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin-offering,
which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his
house." (Ver. 5, 6.) Aaron and his house represent the Church, not
indeed as the "one body," but as a priestly house. It is not the
Church as we find it developed in Ephesians and Colossians, but rather
as we find it in the first epistle of Peter, in the following
well-known passage: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a
_spiritual house_, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (Chap. ii. 5.) So also
in Hebrews--"But Christ as a Son over His own house; _whose house are
we_, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm
unto the end." (Chap. iii. 6.) We must ever remember that there is no
revelation of the mystery of the Church in the Old Testament. Types
and shadows there are, but no revelation. That wondrous mystery of Jew
and Gentile forming "one body," "one new man," and united to a
glorified Christ in heaven, could not, as is obvious, be revealed
until Christ had taken His place above. Of this mystery Paul was
pre-eminently made a steward and a minister, as he tells us in
Ephesians iii. 1-12, a passage which I would commend to the prayerful
attention of the Christian reader.
"And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast
lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for
the scape-goat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's
lot fell, and offer him for a sin-offering. But the goat on which the
lot fell to be the scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the
Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a
scape-goat into the wilderness." (Ver. 7-10.) In these two goats, we
have the two aspects of atonement already referred to; "the Lord's
lot" fell upon one, and the people's lot fell upon the other. In the
case of the former, it was not a question of the persons or the sins
which were to be forgiven, nor of God's counsels of grace toward His
elect. These things, I need hardly say, are of infinite moment; but
they are not involved in the case of "the goat on which the Lord's lot
fell." This latter typifies the death of Christ as that wherein God
has been perfectly glorified with respect to sin in general. This
great truth is fully set forth in the remarkable expression, "the
Lord's lot." God has a peculiar portion in the death of Christ--a
portion quite distinct--a portion which would hold eternally good even
though no sinner were ever to be saved. In order to see the force of
this, it is needful to bear in mind how God has been dishonored in
this world. His truth has been despised; His authority has been
contemned; His majesty has been slighted; His law has been broken; His
claims have been disregarded; His name has been blasphemed; His
character has been traduced.
Now, the death of Christ has made provision for all this. It has
perfectly glorified God in the very place where all these things have
been done; it has perfectly vindicated the majesty, the truth, the
holiness, the character of God; it has divinely met all the claims of
His throne; it has atoned for _sin_; it has furnished a divine remedy
for all the mischief which sin introduced into the universe; it
affords a ground on which the blessed God can act in grace, mercy, and
forbearance toward all; it furnishes a warrant for the eternal
expulsion and perdition of the prince of this world; it forms the
imperishable foundation of God's moral government. In virtue of the
cross, God can act according to His own sovereignty; He can display
the matchless glories of His character and the adorable attributes of
His nature. He might, in the exercise of inflexible justice, have
consigned the human family to the lake of fire, together with the
devil and his angels; but in that case, where would be His love, His
grace, His mercy, His kindness, His long-suffering, His compassion,
His patience, His perfect goodness?
Then on the other hand, had these precious attributes been exercised
in the absence of atonement, where were the justice, the truth, the
majesty, the holiness, the righteousness, the governmental claims,
yea, the entire moral glory of God? How could "mercy and truth meet
together"? or "righteousness and peace kiss each other"? how could
"truth spring out of the earth"? or "righteousness look down from
heaven"? Impossible. Naught save the atonement of our Lord Jesus
Christ could have fully glorified God; but that has glorified Him. It
has reflected the full glory of the divine character as it never could
have been reflected amid the brightest splendors of an unfallen
creation. By means of that atonement, in prospect and retrospect, God
has been exercising forbearance toward this world for well-nigh six
thousand years. In virtue of that atonement, the most wicked, daring,
and blasphemous of the sons of men "live, move, and have their being;"
eat, drink, and sleep. The very morsel which yonder open blaspheming
infidel puts into his mouth, he owes to the atonement, which he knows
not, but impiously ridicules; the sunbeams and showers which fertilize
the fields of the atheist, reach him in virtue of the atonement of
Christ; yea, the very breath which the infidel and the atheist spend
in blaspheming God's revelation, or denying His existence, they owe
to the atonement of Christ. Were it not for that precious atonement,
instead of blaspheming upon earth, they would be weltering in hell.
Let not my reader misunderstand me, I speak not here of the
forgiveness or salvation of persons. This is quite another thing, and
stands connected, as every true Christian knows, with the confession
of the name of Jesus and the hearty belief that God raised Him from
the dead. (Rom. x.) This is plain enough, and fully understood; but it
is in no wise involved in that aspect of the atonement which we are at
present contemplating, and which is so strikingly foreshadowed by "the
goat on which the Lord's lot fell." God's pardoning and accepting a
sinner is one thing; His bearing with that man, and showering temporal
blessings upon him, is quite another. Both are in virtue of the cross,
but in a totally different aspect and application thereof.
Nor is this distinction by any means unimportant. Quite the opposite.
Indeed, so important is it that where it is overlooked, there must be
confusion as to the full doctrine of atonement. Nor is this all. A
clear understanding of God's ways in government, whether in the past,
the present, or the future, will be found involved in this profoundly
interesting point. And finally, in it will be found the key wherewith
to expound a number of texts in which many Christians find
considerable difficulty. I shall just adduce two or three of these
passages as examples.
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the _sin_ of the world."
(John i. 29.) With this we may connect a kindred passage in John's
first epistle, in which the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as "the
propitiation for the whole world."[23] (Chap. ii. 2.) In both these
passages the Lord Jesus is referred to as the One who has perfectly
glorified God with respect to "_sin_" and "_the world_," in their
broadest acceptation. He is here seen as the great Antitype of "the
goat on which the Lord's lot fell." This gives us a most precious view
of the atonement of Christ, and one which is too much overlooked, or
not clearly apprehended. Whenever the question of _persons_ and the
forgiveness of _sins_ is raised in connection with these and kindred
passages of Scripture, the mind is sure to get involved in insuperable
difficulties.
[23] The reader will observe, in the above passage, that the words
"the sins of" are introduced by the translators, and are not inspired.
The divine accuracy of the passage is completely lost by retaining
those uninspired words. The doctrine laid down is simply this: In the
first clause of the verse, Christ is set forth as the propitiation for
His people's actual _sins_; but in the last clause, it is not a
question of _sins_ or of _persons_ at all, but of _sin_ and the
_world_ in general. In fact, the whole verse presents Christ as the
Antitype of the two goats, as the One who has borne His people's sins;
and also as the One who has perfectly glorified God with respect to
sin in general, and made provision for dealing in grace with the world
at large, and for the final deliverance and blessing of the whole
creation.
So, also, with respect to all those passages in which God's grace to
the world at large is presented. They are founded upon that special
aspect of the atonement with which we are more immediately occupied.
"Go ye into _all the world_ and preach the gospel _to every
creature_." (Mark xvi.)--"God so loved _the world_, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish,
but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to
condemn _the world_, but that the world through Him might be saved."
(John iii. 16, 17.)--"I exhort, therefore, that first of all,
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made
for _all men_; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will
have _all men_ to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the
truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a _ransom for all_, to be testified
in due time." (1 Tim. ii. 1-6.)--"For _the grace of God_ that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to _all men_." (Titus ii. 11.)--"But we see
Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by _the grace of God_
should taste death _for every man_." (Heb. ii. 9.)--"The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is
long-suffering to usward, not willing that _any_ should perish, but
that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter iii. 9.)
There is no need whatsoever for seeking to avoid the plain sense of
the above and similar passages. They bear a clear and unequivocal
testimony to divine grace toward all, without the slightest reference
to man's responsibility on the one hand, or to God's eternal counsels
on the other. These things are just as clearly, just as fully, just
as unequivocally, taught in the Word. Man is responsible and God is
sovereign. All who bow to Scripture admit these things. But, at the
same time, it is of the very last importance to recognize the wide
aspect of the grace of God and of the cross of Christ. It glorifies
God, and leaves man _wholly_ without excuse. Men argue about God's
decrees and man's incompetency to believe without divine influence.
Their arguments prove that they do not want God; for did they only
want Him, He is near enough to be found of them. The grace of God and
the atonement of Christ are as wide as they could desire. "_Any_,"
"_every_," "_whosoever_," and "_all_" are God's own words; and I
should like to know who is shut out. If God sends a message of
salvation to a man, He surely intends it for him; and what can be more
wicked and impious than to reject God's grace, and make Him a liar,
and then give His secret decrees as a reason for so doing? It would
be, in a certain sense, honest for a man to say at once, The fact is,
I do not believe God's Word, and I do not want His grace or His
salvation. One could understand this; but for men to cover their
hatred of God and His truth with the drapery of a false, because
one-sided, theology, is the very highest character of wickedness. It
is such as to make us feel, of a truth, that the devil is never more
diabolical than when he appears with the Bible in his hand.
If it be true that men are prevented by God's secret decrees and
counsels from receiving the gospel, which He has commanded to be
preached to them, then on what principle of righteousness will they be
"punished with everlasting destruction" for not obeying that gospel?
(2 Thess. i. 6-10.) Is there a single soul throughout all the gloomy
regions of the lost who blames God's counsels for his being there? Not
one. Oh, no; God has made such ample provision in the atonement of
Christ, not only for the salvation of those that believe, but also for
the aspect of His grace toward those that reject the gospel, that
there is no excuse. It is not because a man _cannot_, but because he
_will not_ believe that he "shall be punished with everlasting
destruction." Never was there a more fatal mistake than for a man to
ensconce himself behind God's decrees, while deliberately and
intelligently refusing God's grace; and this is all the more dangerous
because supported by the dogmas of a one-sided theology. God's grace
is free to all; and if we ask, How is this? the answer is, "Jehovah's
lot" fell upon the true Victim, in order that He might be perfectly
glorified as to sin, in its widest aspect, and be free to act in grace
toward all, and "preach the gospel to every creature." This grace and
this preaching must have a solid basis, and that basis is found in the
atonement; and though man should reject, God is glorified in the
exercise of grace and in the offer of salvation, because of the oasis
on which both the one and the other repose. He _is_ glorified, and He
_shall be_ glorified throughout eternity's countless ages.--"Now is My
soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour:
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name.
Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified
it, and will glorify it again.'... Now is the judgment of this world:
now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all unto Me." (John xii. 27-32.)
Thus far we have been occupied only with one special point, namely,
"the goat on which the Lord's lot fell;" and a cursory reader might
suppose that the next thing in order would be the scape-goat, which
gives us the other great aspect of the death of Christ, or its
application to the sins of the people. But no; ere we come to that, we
have the fullest confirmation of that precious line of truth which has
been before us, in the fact that the blood of the slain goat, together
with the blood of the bullock, was sprinkled upon and before Jehovah's
throne, in order to show that all the claims of that throne were
answered in the blood of atonement, and full provision made for all
the demands of God's moral administration.
"And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin-offering which is for
himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house,
and shall kill the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself.
And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the
altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten
small, and bring it within the vail. And he shall put the incense upon
the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the
mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not." Here we have
a most vivid and striking presentation indeed. The blood of atonement
is carried in within the vail, into the holiest of all, and there
sprinkled upon the throne of the God of Israel. The cloud of the
divine presence was there; and in order that Aaron might appear in the
immediate presence of the glory and not die, "the cloud of incense"
ascends and "covers the mercy-seat," on which the blood of atonement
was to be sprinkled "seven times." The "_sweet_ incense beaten
_small_" expresses the fragrance of Christ's Person--the sweet odor of
His most precious sacrifice.
"And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with
his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat
shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall
he kill the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people, and bring
his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the
blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before
the mercy-seat." (Ver. 14, 15.) "Seven" is the perfect number; and in
the sprinkling of the blood seven times before the mercy-seat, we
learn that whatever be the application of the atonement of Christ,
whether as to things, to places, or to persons, it is perfectly
estimated in the divine presence. The blood which secures the
salvation of the Church--the "house" of the true Aaron; the blood
which secures the salvation of the "congregation" of Israel; the
blood which secures the final restoration and blessedness of the whole
creation--that blood has been presented before God, sprinkled and
accepted according to all the perfectness, fragrance, and preciousness
of Christ. In the power of that blood God can accomplish all His
eternal counsels of grace. He can save the Church, and raise it into
the very loftiest heights of glory and dignity, despite of all the
power of sin and Satan; He can restore Israel's scattered tribes; He
can unite Judah and Ephraim; He can accomplish all the promises made
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; He can save and bless untold millions of
the Gentiles; He can restore and bless the wide creation; He can allow
the beams of His glory to lighten up the universe forever; He can
display, in the view of angels, men, and devils, His own eternal
glory--the glory of His character, the glory of His nature, the glory
of His works, the glory of His government,--all this He can do, and
will do; but the one solitary pedestal upon which the stupendous
fabric of glory shall rest forever, is the blood of the cross--that
precious blood, dear Christian reader, which has spoken peace--divine
and everlasting peace--to your heart and conscience, in the presence
of Infinite Holiness. The blood which is sprinkled upon the believer's
conscience has been sprinkled "seven times" before the throne of God.
The nearer we get to God, the more importance and value we find
attached to the blood of Jesus. If we look at the brazen altar, we
find the blood there; if we look at the brazen laver, we find the
blood there; if we look at the golden altar, we find the blood there;
if we look at the vail of the tabernacle, we find the blood there: but
in no place do we find so much about the blood as within the vail,
before Jehovah's throne, in the immediate presence of the divine
glory.
"In heaven His blood forever speaks,
In God the Father's ears."
"And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the
uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their
transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the
tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst
of their uncleanness." The same truth meets us all along. The claims
of the sanctuary must be provided for. Jehovah's courts, as well as
His throne, must bear witness to the value of the blood. The
tabernacle, in the midst of Israel's uncleanness, must be fenced round
about by the divine provisions of atonement. Jehovah provided, in all
things, for His own glory. The priests and their priestly service, the
place of worship and all therein, must stand in the power of the
blood. The Holy One could not have remained for a moment in the midst
of the congregation were it not for the power of the blood. It was
that which left Him free to dwell and act and rule in the midst of an
erring people.
"And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when
he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out,
and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and
for all the congregation of Israel." (Ver. 17.) Aaron needed to offer
up sacrifice for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
He could only enter into the sanctuary in the power of the blood. We
have, in verse 17, a type of the atonement of Christ in its
application both to the Church and to the congregation of Israel. The
Church now enters into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. (Heb. x.) As
to Israel, the vail is still on their hearts. (2 Cor. iii.) They are
still at a distance, although full provision has been made in the
cross for their forgiveness and restoration when they shall turn to
the Lord. This entire period is, properly speaking, the day of
atonement. The true Aaron is gone in, with His own blood, into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. By and by He will
come forth to lead the congregation of Israel into the full results of
His accomplished work. Meanwhile, His house--that is to say, all true
believers--is associated with Him, having boldness to enter into the
holiest, being brought nigh by the blood of Jesus.
"And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make
an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and
of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round
about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger
seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the
children of Israel." (Ver. 18, 19.) Thus the atoning blood was
sprinkled every where, from the throne of God within the vail, to the
altar which stood in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.
"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet
that He should offer Himself often, as the high-priest entereth into
the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He often
have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now _once_ in the
end of the world [at the end of every thing earthly, every thing
human] hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and
unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without
sin unto salvation." (Heb. ix. 23-28.)
There is but one way into the holiest of all, and that is a
blood-sprinkled way. It is vain to strive to enter by any other. Men
may attempt to work themselves in, to pray themselves in, to buy
themselves in, to get in by a pathway of ordinances, or it may be, of
half ordinances, half Christ; but it is of no use. God speaks of _one_
way, and but one, and that way has been thrown open through the rent
vail of the Saviour's flesh. Along that way have the millions of the
saved passed, from age to age; patriarchs, prophets, apostles,
martyrs, saints in every age, from Abel downwards, have trod that
blessed way, and found thereby sure and undisputed access. The _one_
sacrifice of the cross is divinely sufficient for all. God asks no
more, and He can take no less. To add aught thereto is to cast
dishonor upon that with which God has declared Himself well pleased,
yea, in which He is infinitely glorified: to diminish aught therefrom
is to deny man's guilt and ruin, and offer an indignity to the justice
and majesty of the eternal Trinity.
"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the
tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live
goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live
goat, and confess over him _all_ the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and _all_ their transgressions in _all_ their sins, putting
them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of
a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him _all_
their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the
goat in the wilderness."
Here, then, we have the other grand idea attached to the death of
Christ, namely, the full and final forgiveness of the people. If the
death of Christ forms the foundation of the glory of God, it also
forms the foundation of the perfect forgiveness of sins to all who put
their trust in it. This latter, blessed be God, is but a secondary--an
inferior application of the atonement, though our foolish hearts
would fain regard it as the very highest possible view of the cross to
see in it that which puts away all our sins. This is a mistake. God's
glory is the first thing, our salvation is the second. To maintain
God's glory was the chief--the darling object of the heart of Christ.
This object He pursued from first to last, with an undeviating purpose
and unflinching fidelity. "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I
lay down My life, that I might take it again." (John x. 17.) "Now is
the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be
glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall
straightway glorify Him." (John xiii. 31, 32.) "Listen, O isles, unto
Me; and hearken, ye people from far: the Lord hath called Me from the
womb; from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name.
And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His
hand hath He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft: in His quiver hath
He hid Me; and said unto Me, 'Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in whom
_I will be glorified_.'" (Isaiah xlix. 1-3.)
Thus the glory of God was the paramount object of the Lord Jesus
Christ, in life and in death. He lived and died to glorify His
Father's name. Does the Church lose aught by this? Nay. Does Israel?
Nay. Do the Gentiles? Nay. In no way could their salvation and
blessedness be so perfectly provided for as by being made subsidiary
to the glory of God. Hearken to the divine response to Christ, the
true Israel, in the sublime passage just quoted. "It is a light thing
that Thou shouldest be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and
to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light
to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation to the ends of the
earth."
And is it not a blessed thing to know that God is glorified in the
putting away of our sins? We may ask, Where are our sins? Put away. By
what? By that act of Christ upon the cross, in which God has been
eternally glorified. Thus it is. The two goats, on the day of
atonement, give the double aspect of the one act. In the one, we see
God's glory maintained; in the other, sins put away. The one is as
perfect as the other. We are as perfectly forgiven as God is perfectly
glorified, by the death of Christ. Was there one single point in which
God was not glorified in the cross? Not one. Neither is there one
single point in which we are not perfectly forgiven. I say "we;" for
albeit the congregation of Israel is the primary object contemplated
in the beautiful and impressive ordinance of the scape-goat, yet does
it hold good, in the fullest way, with respect to every soul that
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is as perfectly forgiven as
God is perfectly glorified, by the atonement of the cross. How many of
the sins of Israel did the scape-goat bear away? "_All._" Precious
word! Not one left behind. And whither did he bear them? "Into a land
not inhabited"--a land where they could never be found, because there
was no one there to look for them. Could any type be more perfect?
could we possibly have a more graphic picture of Christ's
accomplished sacrifice, in its primary and secondary aspects?
Impossible. We can hang with intense admiration over such a picture,
and as we gaze, exclaim, Of a truth, the pencil of the Master is here!
Reader, pause here, and say, do you know that _all_your sins are
forgiven, according to the perfection of Christ's sacrifice? If you
simply _believe_ on His name, they are so,--they are all gone, and
gone forever. Say not, as so many anxious souls do, "I fear I do not
_realize_." There is no such word as "realize" in the entire gospel.
We are not saved by realization, but by Christ; and the way to get
Christ in all His fullness and preciousness is to believe--"_only
believe!_" And what will be the result? "The worshipers once purged
should have no more conscience of sins." Observe this,--"No more
conscience of sins." This must be the result, inasmuch as Christ's
sacrifice is perfect--so perfect, that God is glorified therein. Now,
it must be obvious to you that Christ's work does not need your
realization to be added to it to make it perfect. This could not be.
We might as well say that the work of creation was not complete until
Adam realized it in the garden of Eden. True, he did realize; but what
did he realize? A perfect work. Thus let it be with your precious soul
this moment, if it has never been so before. May you now and evermore
repose, in artless simplicity, upon the One who has, by one offering,
perfected forever them that are sanctified. And how are they
sanctified? Is it by realization? By no means. How then? By the
perfect work of Christ.
Having sought (alas! most feebly) to unfold the doctrine of this
marvelous chapter, so far as God has given me light upon it, there is
just one point further to which I shall merely call my reader's
attention ere I close this section. It is contained in the following
quotation: "And this shall be a statute forever unto you, that in the
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your
souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or
a stranger that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall the priest
make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from
_all_ your sins _before the Lord_. It shall be _a Sabbath of rest_,
and ye shall _afflict your souls_, by a statute forever." (Ver.
29-31.)
This shall have its full accomplishment in the saved remnant of Israel
by and by, as foretold by the prophet Zechariah,--"And I will pour
upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in
bitterness for his first-born. _In that day_ shall there be _a great
mourning_ in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley
of Megiddon.... _In that day_ there shall be a _fountain opened_ to
the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and
for uncleanness.... And it shall come to pass _in that day_ that the
light shall not be clear [in one place] and dark [in another]; but it
shall be one day, [the true and long-expected Sabbath,] which shall be
known to the Lord, not day nor night; but it shall come to pass that
at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be _in that day_ that
living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the
former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in
winter shall it be. And THE LORD SHALL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH: _in
that day_ shall there be one Lord, and His name one.... _In that day_
shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE
LORD.... And _in that day_ there shall be no more the Canaanite in the
house of the Lord of hosts." (Zech. xii.-xiv.)
What a day that will be! No marvel that it should be so frequently and
so emphatically introduced in the above glowing passage. It will be a
bright and blessed "Sabbath of rest" when the mourning remnant shall
gather, in the spirit of true penitence, around the open fountain, and
enter into the full and final results of the great day of atonement.
They shall "afflict their souls," no doubt; for how could they do
otherwise, while fixing their repentant gaze "upon Him whom they have
pierced"? But, oh, what a Sabbath they will have! Jerusalem will have
a brimming cup of salvation, after her long and dreary night of
sorrow. Her former desolations shall be forgotten, and her children,
restored to their long-lost dwellings, shall take down their harps
from the willows, and sing once more the sweet songs of Zion, beneath
the peaceful shade of the vine and fig-tree.
Blessed be God, the time is at hand. Every setting sun brings us
nearer to that blissful Sabbath. The word is, "Surely, I come
quickly;" and all around seems to tell us that "the days are at hand,
and the effect of every vision." May we be "sober, and watch unto
prayer." May we keep ourselves unspotted from the world; and thus, in
the spirit of our minds, the affections of our hearts, and the
experience of our souls, be ready to meet the heavenly Bridegroom. Our
place for the present is outside the camp. Thank God that it is so! It
would be an unspeakable loss to be inside. The same cross which has
brought us inside the vail has cast us outside the camp. Christ was
cast out thither, and we are with Him there; but He has been received
up into heaven, and we are with Him there. Is it not a mercy to be
outside of all that which has rejected our blessed Lord and Master?
Truly so; and the more we know of Jesus, and the more we know of this
present evil world, the more thankful we shall be to find our place
outside of it all _with Him_.