In this chapter the reader will find two special points, namely,
first, that life belongs to Jehovah; and secondly, that the power of
atonement is in the blood. The Lord attached peculiar importance to
both these things. He would have them impressed upon every member of
the congregation.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto Aaron, and unto
his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, This
is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying, What man soever
there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat,
in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, and bringeth it not
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an
offering unto the Lord, before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall
be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be
cut off from among his people." This was a most solemn matter; and we
may ask what was involved in offering a sacrifice otherwise than in
the manner here prescribed. It was nothing less than robbing Jehovah
of His rights, and presenting to Satan that which was due to God. A
man might say, Can I not offer a sacrifice in one place as well as
another? The answer is, Life belongs to God, and His claim thereto
must be recognized in the place which He has appointed--before the
tabernacle of the Lord. That was the only meeting-place between God
and man. To offer elsewhere proved that the heart did not want God.
The moral of this is plain. There is one place where God has appointed
to meet the sinner, and that is the cross--the antitype of the brazen
altar. There and there alone has God's claims upon the life been duly
recognized. To reject this meeting-place is to bring down judgment
upon one's self--it is to trample under foot the just claims of God,
and to arrogate to one's self a right to life which all have
forfeited. It is important to see this.
"And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord,
at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat
for a sweet savor unto the Lord." The blood and the fat belonged to
God. The blessed Jesus fully recognized this. He surrendered His life
to God, and all His hidden energies were devoted to Him likewise. He
voluntarily walked to the altar and there gave up His precious life;
and the fragrant odor of His intrinsic excellency ascended to the
throne of God. Blessed Jesus! it is sweet, at every step of our way,
to be reminded of Thee.
The second point above referred to is clearly stated in verse
11.--"For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it
to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls, for IT IS
THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL." The connection
between the two points is deeply interesting. When man duly takes his
place as one possessing no title whatsoever to life--when he fully
recognizes God's claims upon him, then the divine record is, "I have
given you the life to make an atonement for your soul." Yes; atonement
is God's gift to man; and be it carefully noted that this atonement is
in the blood, and _only_ in the blood. "It is _the blood_ that maketh
an atonement for the soul." It is not the blood _and_ something else.
The word is most explicit. It attributes atonement exclusively to _the
blood_. "Without shedding of _blood_ is no remission." (Heb. ix. 22.)
It was the _death_ of Christ that rent the vail. It is "by _the blood_
of Jesus" we have "boldness to enter into the holiest." "We have
redemption through His _blood_, the forgiveness of sins." (Eph. i. 7;
Col. i. 14.) "Having made peace by _the blood_ of His cross." "Ye who
were afar off are made nigh by _the blood_ of His cross." "_The blood_
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John i. 7.)
"They washed their robes and made them white in _the blood_ of the
Lamb." (Rev. vii.) "They overcame him by _the blood_ of the Lamb."
(Rev. xii.)
I would desire to call my reader's earnest attention to the precious
and vital doctrine of the blood. I am anxious that he should see its
true place. The blood of Christ is the foundation of every thing. It
is the ground of God's righteousness in justifying an ungodly sinner
that believes on the name of the Son of God; and it is the ground of
the sinner's confidence in drawing nigh to a holy God, who is of purer
eyes than to behold evil. God would be just in the condemnation of the
sinner; but through the death of Christ, He can be just and the
justifier of him that believeth--a just God and a Saviour. The
righteousness of God is His consistency with Himself--His acting in
harmony with His revealed character. Hence, were it not for the cross,
His consistency with Himself would, of necessity, demand the death
and judgment of the sinner; but in the cross, that death and judgment
were borne by the sinner's Surety, so that the same divine consistency
is perfectly maintained, while a holy God justifies an ungodly sinner
through faith. _It is all through the blood of Jesus_--nothing less,
nothing more, nothing different. "It is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul." This is conclusive. This is God's simple plan
of justification. Man's plan is much more cumbrous, much more
roundabout. And not only is it cumbrous and roundabout, but it
attributes righteousness to something quite different from what I find
in the Word. If I look from the third chapter of Genesis down to the
close of Revelation, I find the blood of Christ put forward as the
alone ground of righteousness. We get pardon, peace, life,
righteousness--all by the blood, and nothing but the blood. The entire
book of Leviticus, and particularly the chapter upon which we have
just been meditating, is a commentary upon the doctrine of the blood.
It seems strange to have to insist upon a fact so obvious to every
dispassionate, teachable student of holy Scripture; yet so it is. Our
minds are prone to slip away from the plain testimony of the Word. We
are ready to adopt opinions without ever calmly investigating them in
the light of the divine testimonies. In this way we get into
confusion, darkness, and error.
May we all learn to give the blood of Christ its due place. It is so
precious in God's sight that He will not suffer aught else to be added
to or mingled with it. "The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I
have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your
souls: for _it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul_."
CHAPTERS XVIII.-XX.
This section sets before us, in a very remarkable manner, the personal
sanctity and moral propriety which Jehovah looked for on the part of
those whom He had graciously introduced into relationship with
Himself; and, at the same time, it presents a most humiliating picture
of the enormities of which human nature is capable.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, _I am the Lord your God_.'" Here we have
the foundation of the entire superstructure of moral conduct which
these chapters present. Israel's actings were to take their character
from the fact that Jehovah was _their_ God. They were called to
comport themselves in a manner worthy of so high and holy a position.
It was God's prerogative to set forth the special character and line
of conduct becoming a people with whom He was pleased to associate His
name. Hence the frequency of the expressions, "I am the Lord," "I am
the Lord your God," "I the Lord your God am holy." Jehovah was their
God, and He was holy; hence, therefore, they were called to be holy
likewise. His name was involved in their character and acting.
This is the true principle of holiness for the people of God in all
ages. They are to be governed and characterized by the revelation
which He has made of Himself. Their conduct is to be founded upon what
He is, not upon what they are in themselves. This entirely sets aside
the principle expressed in the words, "Stand by thyself, I am holier
than thou;" a principle so justly repudiated by every sensitive mind.
It is not a comparison of one man with another, but a simple statement
of the line of conduct which God looks for in those who belong to Him.
"After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not
do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you,
shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their ordinances." The
Egyptians and the Canaanites were all wrong. How was Israel to know
this? Who told them? How came they to be right and all besides wrong?
These are interesting inquiries; and the answer is as simple as the
questions are interesting. Jehovah's Word was the standard by which
all questions of right and wrong were to be definitely settled in the
judgment of every member of the Israel of God. It was not, by any
means, the judgment of an Israelite in opposition to the judgment of
an Egyptian or of a Canaanite; but it was the judgment of God above
_all_. Egypt might have her practices and her opinions, and so might
Canaan; but Israel were to have the opinions and practices laid down
in the Word of God. "Ye shall do My judgments, and keep Mine
ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall
therefore keep My statutes and My judgments; which, if a man do, he
shall live in them: I am the Lord."
It will be well for my reader to get a clear, deep, full, practical
sense of this truth. The Word of God must settle every question and
govern every conscience: there must be no appeal from its solemn and
weighty decision. When God speaks, every heart must bow. Men may form
and hold their opinions; they may adopt and defend their practices;
but one of the finest traits in the character of "the Israel of God"
is, profound reverence for, and implicit subjection to, "every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord." The exhibition of this
valuable feature may perhaps lay them open to the charge of dogmatism,
superciliousness, and self-sufficiency, on the part of those who have
never duly weighed the matter; but, in truth, nothing can be more
unlike dogmatism than simple subjection to the plain truth of God;
nothing more unlike superciliousness than reverence for the statements
of inspiration; nothing more unlike self-sufficiency than subjection
to the divine authority of holy Scripture.
True, there will ever be the need of carefulness as to the tone and
manner in which we set forth the authority for our convictions and our
conduct. It must be made manifest, so far as it may be, that we are
wholly governed, not by our own opinions, but by the Word of God.
There is great danger of attaching an importance to an opinion merely
because _we_ have adopted it. This must be carefully guarded against.
_Self_ may creep in and display its deformity in the defense of our
opinions as much as in any thing else; but we must disallow it in
every shape and form, and be governed in all things by "Thus saith the
Lord."
But then we are not to expect that every one will be ready to admit
the full force of the divine statutes and judgments. It is as persons
walk in the integrity and energy of the divine nature that the Word of
God will be owned, appreciated, and reverenced. An Egyptian or a
Canaanite would have been wholly unable to enter into the meaning or
estimate the value of these statutes and judgments, which were to
govern the conduct of the circumcised people of God; but that did not
in any wise affect the question of Israel's obedience. They were
brought into a certain relationship with Jehovah, and that
relationship had its distinctive privileges and responsibilities. "I
am the Lord _your_ God." This was to be the ground of their conduct.
They were to act in a way worthy of the One who had become _their_
God, and made them _His_ people. It was not that they were a whit
better than other people. By no means. The Egyptians or Canaanites
might have considered that the Israelites were setting themselves up
as something superior in refusing to adopt the habits of either
nation. But no; the foundation of their peculiar line of conduct and
tone of morality was laid in these words: "_I_ am the Lord _your
God_."
In this great and practically important fact, Jehovah set before His
people a ground of conduct which was immovable, and a standard of
morality which was as elevated and as enduring as the eternal throne
itself. The moment He entered into a relationship with a people, their
ethics were to assume a character and tone worthy of Him. It was no
longer a question as to what they were, either in themselves or in
comparison with others; but of what God was in comparison with all.
This makes a material difference. To make _self_ the ground of action
or the standard of ethics is not only presumptuous folly, but it is
sure to set one upon a descending scale of action. If self be my
object, I must, of necessity, sink lower and lower every day; but if,
on the other hand, I set the Lord before me, I shall rise higher and
higher as, by the power of the Holy Ghost, I grow in conformity to
that perfect model which is unfolded to the gaze of faith in the
sacred pages of inspiration. I shall undoubtedly have to prostrate
myself in the dust, under a sense of how infinitely short I come of
the mark set before me; but then I can never consent to the setting up
of a lower standard, nor can I ever be satisfied until I am conformed
in all things to Him who was my substitute on the cross, and is my
model in the glory.
Having said thus much on the main principle of the section before
us--a principle of unspeakable importance to Christians, in a
practical point of view, I feel it needless to enter into any thing
like a detailed exposition of statutes which speak for themselves in
most obvious terms. I would merely remark that those statutes range
themselves under two distinct heads, namely, first, those which set
forth the shameful enormities which the human heart is capable of
devising; and secondly, those which exhibit the exquisite tenderness
and considerate care of the God of Israel.
As to the first, it is manifest that the Spirit of God could never
enact laws for the purpose of preventing evils that have no existence.
He does not construct a dam where there is no flood to be resisted: He
does not deal with abstract ideas, but with positive realities. Man
is, in very deed, capable of perpetrating each and every one of the
shameful crimes referred to in this most faithful section of the book
of Leviticus. If he were not, why should he be told not to do so. Such
a code would be wholly unsuitable for angels, inasmuch as they are
incapable of committing the sins referred to; but it suits man,
because he has gotten the seeds of those sins in his nature. This is
deeply humbling. It is a fresh declaration of the truth that man is a
total wreck. From the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, there
is not so much as a single speck of moral soundness, as looked at in
the light of the divine presence. The being for whom Jehovah thought
it needful to write Leviticus xviii.-xx. must be a vile sinner; but
that being is _man_--the writer and reader of these lines. How plain
it is, therefore, that "they that are in the flesh _cannot_ please
God." (Rom. viii.) Thank God, the believer is "not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit." He has been taken completely out of his old-creation
standing, and introduced into the new creation, in which the moral
evils aimed at in this our section can have no existence. True, he has
gotten the old nature; but it is his happy privilege to "reckon" it as
a dead thing, and to walk in the abiding power of the new creation,
wherein "all things are of God." This is Christian liberty, even
liberty to walk up and down in that fair creation where no trace of
evil can ever be found,--hallowed liberty to walk in holiness and
purity before God and man,--liberty to tread those lofty walks of
personal sanctity whereon the beams of the divine countenance ever
pour themselves in living lustre. Reader, this is Christian liberty.
It is liberty, not to commit sin, but to taste the celestial sweets of
a life of true holiness and moral elevation. May we prize more highly
than we have ever done this precious boon of heaven--Christian
liberty.
And now, one word as to the second class of statutes contained in our
section, namely, those which so touchingly bring out divine tenderness
and care. Take the following: "And when ye reap the harvest of your
land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither
shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not
glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy
vineyard; _thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger_: I am the
Lord your God." (Chap. xix. 9, 10.) This ordinance will meet us again
in chapter xxiii. but there we shall see it in its dispensational
bearing. Here, we contemplate it morally, as unfolding the precious
grace of Israel's God. He would think of "the poor and stranger," and
He would have His people think of them likewise. When the golden
sheaves were being reaped, and the mellow clusters gathered, "the poor
and stranger" were to be remembered by the Israel of God, because
Jehovah was the God of Israel. The reaper and the grape-gatherer were
not to be governed by a spirit of grasping covetousness, which would
bare the corners of the field and strip the branches of the vine, but
rather by a spirit of large-hearted, genuine benevolence, which would
leave a sheaf and a cluster "for the poor and stranger," that they too
might rejoice in the unbounded goodness of Him whose paths drop
fatness, and on whose open hand all the sons of want may confidently
wait.
The book of Ruth furnishes a fine example of one who fully acted out
this most benevolent statute. "And Boaz said unto her, [Ruth,] 'At
meal-time, come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel
in the vinegar.' And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her
parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. And when
she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, 'Let
her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not; _and let fall
also some of the handfuls of purpose for her_, and leave them, that
she may glean them, and rebuke her not.'" (Ruth ii. 14-16.) Most
touching and beautiful grace! Truly, it is good for our poor selfish
hearts to be brought in contact with such principles and such
practices. Nothing can surpass the exquisite refinement of the words,
"let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her." It was
evidently the desire of this noble Israelite that "the stranger" might
have abundance, and have it, too, rather as the fruit of her own
gleaning than of his benevolence. This was the very essence of
refinement. It was putting her in immediate connection with, and
dependence upon, the God of Israel, who had fully recognized and
provided for "the gleaner." Boaz was merely acting out that gracious
ordinance of which Ruth was reaping the benefit. The same grace that
had given him the field gave her the gleanings. They were both debtors
to grace. She was the happy recipient of Jehovah's goodness: he was
the honored exponent of Jehovah's most gracious institution. All was
in most lovely moral order. The creature was blessed and God was
glorified. Who would not own that it is good for us to be allowed to
breathe such an atmosphere?
Let us now turn to another statute of our section. "Thou shalt not
defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired
shall not abide with thee all night until the morning." (Chap. xix.
13.) What tender care is here! The High and Mighty One that inhabiteth
eternity can take knowledge of the thoughts and feelings that spring
up in the heart of a poor laborer. He knows and takes into account the
expectations of such an one in reference to the fruit of his day's
toil. The wages will naturally be looked for. The laborer's heart
counts upon them: the family meal depends upon them. Oh! let them not
be held back: send not the laborer home with a heavy heart, to make
the heart of his wife and family heavy likewise. By all means, give
him that for which he has wrought, to which he has a right, and on
which his heart is set. He is a husband, he is a father, and he has
borne the burden and heat of the day that his wife and children may
not go hungry to bed. Disappoint him not: give him his due. Thus does
our God take notice of the very throbbings of the laborer's heart, and
make provision for his rising expectations. Precious grace! Most
tender, thoughtful, touching, condescending love! The bare
contemplation of such statutes is sufficient to throw one into a flood
of tenderness. Could any one read such passages and not be melted?
Could any one read them and thoughtlessly dismiss a poor laborer, not
knowing whether he and his family have wherewithal to meet the
cravings of hunger?
Nothing can be more painful to a tender heart than the lack of kindly
consideration for the poor so often manifested by the rich. These
latter can sit down to their sumptuous repast after dismissing from
their door some poor industrious creature who had come seeking the
just reward of his honest labor. They think not of the aching heart
with which that man returns to his family, to tell them of the
disappointment to himself and to them. Oh, it is terrible! It is most
offensive to God and to all who have drunk, in any measure, into His
grace. If we would know what God thinks of such acting, we have only
to hearken to the following accents of holy indignation: "Behold, the
hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you
kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them that have reaped
have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." (James v. 4.) "The
Lord of Sabaoth" hears the cry of the aggrieved and disappointed
laborer. His tender love tells itself forth in the institutions of His
moral government; and even though the heart should not be melted by
the grace of those institutions, the conduct should, at least, be
governed by the righteousness thereof. God will not suffer the claims
of the poor to be heartlessly tossed aside by those who are so
hardened by the influence of wealth as to be insensible to the appeals
of tenderness, and who are so far removed beyond the region of
personal need as to be incapable of feeling for those whose lot it is
to spend their days amid exhausting toil or pinching poverty. The poor
are the special objects of God's care. Again and again He makes
provision for them in the statutes of His moral administration; and it
is particularly declared of Him who shall ere long assume, in
manifested glory, the reins of government, that "He shall deliver the
needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He
shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
He shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence; and precious
shall their blood be in His sight." (Ps. lxxii. 12-14.)
May we profit by the review of those precious and deeply practical
truths. May our hearts be affected, and our conduct influenced by
them. We live in a heartless world; and there is a vast amount of
selfishness in our own hearts. We are not sufficiently affected by the
thought of the need of others. We are apt to forget the poor in the
midst of our abundance. We often forget that the very persons whose
labor ministers to our personal comfort are living, it may be, in the
deepest poverty. Let us think of these things. Let us beware of
"grinding the faces of the poor." If the Jews of old were taught, by
the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic economy, to entertain kindly
feelings toward the poor, and to deal tenderly and graciously with the
sons of toil, how much more ought the higher and more spiritual ethics
of the gospel dispensation produce in the hearts and lives of
Christians a large-hearted benevolence toward every form of human
need.
True, there is urgent need of prudence and caution, lest we take a man
out of the honorable position in which he was designed and fitted to
move, namely, a position of dependence upon the fruits--the precious
and fragrant fruits--of honest industry. This would be a grievous
injury instead of a benefit. The example of Boaz should instruct in
this matter. He allowed Ruth to glean; but he took care to make her
gleaning profitable. This is a very safe and a very simple principle.
God intends that man should work at something or another, and we run
counter to Him when we draw our fellow out of the place of dependence
upon the results of patient industry, into that of dependence upon the
results of false benevolence. The former is as honorable and elevating
as the latter is contemptible and demoralizing. There is no bread so
sweet to the taste as that which in nobly earned; but then those who
earn their bread should get enough. A man will feed and care for his
horses; how much more his fellow, who yields him the labor of his
hands from Monday morning till Saturday night.
But some will say, There are two sides to this question.
Unquestionably there are; and no doubt one meets with a great deal
amongst the poor which is calculated to dry up the springs of
benevolence and genuine sympathy. There is much which tends to steel
the heart and close the hand; but one thing is certain, it is better
to be deceived in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred than to shut up
the bowels of compassion against a single worthy object. Our heavenly
Father causes His sun to shine upon the evil and on the good; and
sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust. The same sunbeams that
gladden the heart of some devoted servant of Christ are poured upon
the path of some ungodly sinner; and the self-same shower that falls
upon the tillage of a true believer, enriches also the furrows of some
blaspheming infidel. This is to be our model. "Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v.
48.) It is only as we set the Lord before us, and walk in the power
of His grace, that we shall be able to go on from day to day,
meeting, with a tender heart and an open hand, every possible form of
human misery. It is only as we ourselves are drinking at the
exhaustless fountain of divine love and tenderness, that we shall be
able to go on ministering to human need unchecked by the oft-repeated
manifestation of human depravity. Our tiny springs would soon be dried
up were they not maintained in unbroken connection with that
ever-gushing source.
The statute which next presents itself for our consideration,
exemplifies most touchingly the tender care of the God of Israel.
"Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the
blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord." (Ver. 14.) Here a
barrier is erected to stem the rising tide of irritability with which
uncontrolled nature would be almost sure to meet the personal
infirmity of deafness. How well we can understand this! Nature does
not like to be called upon to repeat its words again and again, in
order to meet the deaf man's infirmity. Jehovah thought of this, and
provided for it. And what is the provision? "Thou shalt fear thy God."
When tried by a deaf person, remember the Lord, and look to Him for
grace to enable you to govern your temper.
The second part of this statute reveals a most humiliating amount of
wickedness in human nature. The idea of laying a stumbling-block in
the way of the blind is about the most wanton cruelty imaginable; and
yet man is capable of it, else he would not be warned against it. No
doubt this, as well as many other statutes, admits of a spiritual
application; but that in no wise interferes with the plain literal
principle set forth in it. Man is capable of placing a stumbling-block
in the way of a fellow-creature afflicted with blindness. Such is man!
Truly, the Lord knew what was in man when He wrote the statutes and
judgments of the book of Leviticus.
I shall leave my reader to meditate alone upon the remainder of our
section. He will find that each statute teaches a double lesson,
namely, a lesson with respect to nature's evil tendencies, and also a
lesson as to Jehovah's tender care.[24]
[24] Verses 16 and 17 demand special attention. "Thou shalt not go up
and down as a talebearer among thy people." This is a most seasonable
admonition for the people of God in every age. A talebearer is sure to
do incalculable mischief. It has been well remarked that a talebearer
injures three persons--he injures himself, he injures his hearer, and
he injures the subject of his tale. All this he does directly; and as
to the indirect consequences, who can recount them? Let us carefully
guard against this horrible evil. May we never suffer a tale to pass
our lips; and let us never stand to hearken to a talebearer. May we
always know how to drive away a backbiting tongue with an angry
countenance, as the north wind driveth away rain.
In verse 17, we learn what ought to take the place of talebearing.
"Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon
him." In place of carrying to another a tale about my neighbor, I am
called upon to go directly to himself and rebuke him, if there is any
thing wrong. This is the divine method. Satan's method is to act the
talebearer.
CHAPTERS XXI. & XXII.
These chapters unfold, with great minuteness of detail, the divine
requirements in reference to those who were privileged to draw near as
priests to "offer the bread of their God." In this, as in the
preceding section, we have conduct as the _result_, not the procuring
_cause_ of the relationship. This should be carefully borne in mind.
The sons of Aaron were, in virtue of their birth, priests unto God.
They all stood in this relationship, one as well as another. It was
not a matter of attainment, a question of progress, something which
one had and another had not. All the sons of Aaron were priests; they
were born into a priestly place. Their capacity to understand and
enjoy their position and its attendant privileges was obviously a
different thing altogether. One might be a babe, and another might
have reached the point of mature and vigorous manhood. The former
would, of necessity, be unable to eat of the priestly food, being a
babe, for whom "milk," and not "strong meat," was adapted; but he was
as truly a member of the priestly house as the man who could tread,
with firm step, the courts of the Lord's house, and feed upon "the
wave breast" and "heave shoulder" of the sacrifice.
This distinction is easily understood in the case of the sons of
Aaron, and hence it will serve to illustrate, in a very simple manner,
the truth as to the members of the true priestly house, over which our
great High-Priest presides, and to which all true believers belong.
(Heb. iii. 6.) Every child of God is a priest. He is enrolled as a
member of Christ's priestly house. He may be very ignorant, but his
position as a priest is not founded upon knowledge, but upon life; his
experience may be very shallow, but his place as a priest does not
depend upon experience, but upon life; his capacity may be very
limited, but his relationship as a priest does not rest upon an
enlarged capacity, but upon life. He was born into the position and
relationship of a priest: he did not work himself thereinto. It was
not by any efforts of his own that he became a priest: he became a
priest by birth. The spiritual priesthood, together with all the
spiritual functions attaching thereunto, is the necessary appendage to
spiritual birth. The capacity to enjoy the privileges and to discharge
the functions of a position must not be confounded with the position
itself: they must ever be kept distinct. Relationship is one thing;
capacity is quite another.
Furthermore, in looking at the family of Aaron, we see that nothing
could break the relationship between him and his sons. There were many
things which would interfere with the full enjoyment of the privileges
attaching to the relationship. A son of Aaron might "defile himself by
the dead;" he might defile himself by forming an unholy alliance; he
might have some bodily "blemish;" he might be "blind or lame;" he
might be "a dwarf." Any of these things would have interfered very
materially with his enjoyment of the privileges and his discharge of
the functions pertaining to his relationship, as we read, "No man that
hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to
offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish: he
shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the
bread of his God, both of the most holy and the holy; only he shall
not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath
a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries; for I the Lord do
sanctify them." (Chap. xxi. 21-23.) But none of these things could
possibly touch the fact of a relationship founded upon the established
principles of human nature. Though a son of Aaron were a dwarf, that
dwarf was a son of Aaron. True, he was, as a dwarf, shorn of many
precious privileges and lofty dignities pertaining to the priesthood,
but he was a son of Aaron all the while. He could neither enjoy the
same measure or character of communion, nor yet discharge the same
elevated functions of priestly service, as one who had reached to
manhood's appointed stature; but he was a member of the priestly
house, and as such, permitted to "eat the bread of his God." The
relationship was genuine, though the development was so defective.
The spiritual application of all this is as simple as it is practical.
To be a child of God is one thing; to be in the enjoyment of priestly
communion and priestly worship is quite another. The latter is, alas!
interfered with by many things. Circumstances and associations are
allowed to act upon us by their defiling influence. We are not to
suppose that all Christians enjoy the same elevation of walk, the same
intimacy of fellowship, the same felt nearness to Christ. Alas! alas!
they do not. Many of us have to mourn over our spiritual defects.
There is lameness of walk, defective vision, stunted growth; or we
allow ourselves to be defiled by contact with evil, and to be weakened
and hindered by unhallowed associations. In a word, as the sons of
Aaron, though being priests by birth, were nevertheless deprived of
many privileges through ceremonial defilement and physical defects; so
we, though being priests unto God by spiritual birth, are deprived of
many of the high and holy privileges of our position by moral
defilement and spiritual defects. We are shorn of many of our
dignities through defective spiritual development. We lack singleness
of eye, spiritual vigor, whole-hearted devotedness. Saved we are,
through the free grace of God, on the ground of Christ's perfect
sacrifice. "We are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus;"
but then, salvation is one thing; communion is quite another: sonship
is one thing; obedience is quite another.
These things should be carefully distinguished. The section before us
illustrates the distinction with great force and clearness. If one of
the sons of Aaron happened to be "broken-footed or broken-handed," was
he deprived of his sonship? Assuredly not. Was he deprived of his
priestly position? By no means. It was distinctly declared, "He shall
eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy."
What, then, did he lose by his physical blemish? He was forbidden to
tread some of the higher walks of priestly service and worship.--"Only
he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar." These
were very serious privations; and though it may be objected that a man
could not help many of these physical defects, that did not alter the
matter. Jehovah could not have a blemished priest at His altar, or a
blemished sacrifice thereon. Both the priest and the sacrifice should
be perfect. "No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the
priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by
fire." (Chap. xxi. 22.) "But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye
not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you." (Chap. xxii. 20.)
Now, we have both the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice in the
Person of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He having "offered Himself
without spot to God," passed into the heavens as our great
High-Priest, where He ever liveth to make intercession for us. The
epistle to the Hebrews dwells elaborately upon these two points. It
throws into vivid contrast the sacrifice and priesthood of the Mosaic
system and the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Christ. In Him we have
divine perfectness, whether as the Victim or as the Priest. We have
all that God could require, and all that man could need. His precious
blood has put away all our sins, and His all-prevailing intercession
ever maintains us in all the perfectness of the place into which His
blood has introduced us. "We are complete in Him" (Col. ii.); and yet,
so feeble and so faltering are we in ourselves; so full of failure and
infirmity; so prone to err and stumble in our onward way, that we
could not stand for a moment were it not that "He ever liveth to make
intercession for us." These things have been dwelt upon in the earlier
chapters of this volume, and it is therefore needless to enter further
upon them here. Those who have any thing like correct apprehensions of
the grand foundation-truths of Christianity, and any measure of
experience in the Christian life, will be able to understand how it is
that though "complete in Him who is the head of all principality and
power," they nevertheless need, while down here amid the infirmities,
conflicts, and buffetings of earth, the powerful advocacy of their
adorable and divine High-Priest. The believer is "washed, sanctified,
and justified" (1 Cor. vi.); he is "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. i.
6.); he can never come into judgment, as regards his person (See John
v. 24, where the word is κρισιν and not κατακρισιν.); death and
judgment are behind him, because he is united to Christ, who has
passed through them both on his behalf and in his stead. All these
things are divinely true of the very weakest, most unlettered, and
inexperienced member of the family of God; but yet, inasmuch as he
carries about with him a nature so incorrigibly bad and so
irremediably ruined that no discipline can correct it and no medicine
cure it, inasmuch as he is the tenant of a body of sin and death--as
he is surrounded on all sides by hostile influences--as he is called
to cope perpetually with the combined forces of the world, the flesh,
and the devil, he could never keep his ground, much less make
progress, were he not upheld by the all-prevailing intercession of his
great High-Priest, who bears the names of His people upon His breast
and upon His shoulder.
Some, I am aware, have found great difficulty in reconciling the idea
of the believer's perfect standing in Christ with the need of
priesthood. "If," it is argued, "he is perfect, what need has he of a
priest?" The two things are as distinctly taught in the Word as they
are compatible one with another, and understood in the experience of
every rightly instructed Christian. It is of the very last importance
to apprehend, with clearness and accuracy, the perfect harmony between
these two points. The believer is perfect in Christ; but in himself,
he is a poor feeble creature, ever liable to fall. Hence the
unspeakable blessedness of having One who can manage all his affairs
for him, at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens--One who
upholds him continually by the right hand of His righteousness--One
who will never let him go--One who is able to save to the
uttermost--One who is "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever"--One
who will bear him triumphantly through all the difficulties and
dangers which surround him, and finally "present him faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Blessed forever be the
grace that has made such ample provision for all our need in the
blood of a Spotless Victim and the intercession of a divine
High-Priest!
Dear Christian reader, let it be our care so to walk, so to "keep
ourselves unspotted from the world," so to stand apart from all
unhallowed associations, that we may enjoy the highest privileges and
discharge the most elevated functions of our position as members of
the priestly house of which Christ is the Head. We have "boldness to
enter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus:" "we have a great
High-Priest over the house of God." (Heb. x.) Nothing can ever rob us
of these privileges. But then our communion may be marred, our worship
may be hindered, our holy functions may remain undischarged. Those
ceremonial matters against which the sons of Aaron were warned in the
section before us, have their antitypes in the Christian economy. Had
they to be warned against unholy contact? So have we. Had they to be
warned against unholy alliance? So have we. Had they to be warned
against all manner of ceremonial uncleanness? So have we to be warned
against "all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." (1 Cor. vii.) Were
they shorn of many of their loftiest priestly privileges by bodily
blemish and imperfect natural growth? So are we by moral blemish and
imperfect spiritual growth.
Will any one venture to call in question the practical importance of
such principles as these? Is it not obvious that the more highly we
estimate the blessings which attach to that priestly house of which
we have been constituted members, in virtue of our spiritual birth,
the more carefully shall we guard against every thing which might tend
in any wise to rob us of their enjoyment? Undoubtedly. And this it is
which renders the close study of our section so pre-eminently
practical. May we feel its power, through the application of God the
Holy Ghost. Then shall we _enjoy_ our priestly place; then shall we
faithfully discharge our priestly functions. We shall be able "to
present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God"
(Rom. xii. 1); we shall be able to "offer the sacrifice of praise to
God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His
name" (Heb. xiii. 15.); we shall be able, as members of the "spiritual
house" and the "holy priesthood," to "offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. ii. 5.); we shall be able,
in some small degree, to anticipate that blissful time when, from a
redeemed creation, the halleluiahs of intelligent and fervent praise
shall ascend to the throne of God and the Lamb throughout the
everlasting ages.