For waiting souls to see; Some sacred word that he hath heard
Their light and life shall be; Some lofty part, than which the heart
Adopt no nobler can, Thou shalt receive, thou shalt believe,
And thou shalt do, 0 Man!^
i Clougb, Foevu, 10.
The Continual Fire.
LlTERATURB.
Hanter (J.), De Profundit Cla/tnnvi, 196. Jerdan (C.)» Gospel Milk und Honfy, 360. Spurgeon (C. H.), Morning by Morning, 197. Welldon (J. E. C), The Fire ujxm the Altar, 1. Williama (J. P.), 77>« Duty of Exerdte, 122.
Christian World Pulpit^ xix. 344 (Spenaley) ; Iii. 248 (Glover); Ixx. 168 (Hunter) ; Ixxv. 200 (Body).
fm
The Continual Fire.
Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually ; it shall not go out- Lev, vi. 13.
Ancient religion spoke much by emblem and symbol Words were not its sole medium of communication with men. Its faith did not come by hearing alone. All the senses were more or less employed as a door of utterance, and observances and ceremonies appealing to the imagination were used to awaken and direct devout feeling and thought. Its symbolism was no mere priestly invention and device ; it sprang from and it met a real human need. Then, as now,
Words there are none
For the heart's deepest things,
and hence, of course, ceremony had its natural and legitimate place in the vocabulary of religion as of love. Then, as now, men could not live by the prophet'i message alone : the aspirations of the soul could not always be translated into the dialect of the understanding; spiritual passion demanded other vehicles of expression than the common forms of speech ; carved wood and stone, altar and fire and sacrifice, movement and music and colour, were used to speak the word of God and the soul's sincere desire ; and stately services made great ideas vivid and impressive in a way not otherwise possible. Then, as now, things material and temporal were types of things spiritual and eternal ; and religion as an institution was made to develop, to quicken and nourish religion as a life. Even the most spiritual and best of ancient religions made free use of this symboHc language ; spoke to its children in acted parables, and exhibited dramatically the lessons which it was charged to convey. It loved to enact its instructions, picturing them as upon a canvas, displaying them as upon a stage from generation to generation.
334 THE CONTINUAL FIRE
But man, the twofold creature, apprehenda The twofold manner, in and outwardly, And nothing in the world comes single to him, A mere itself, — cup, column, or candlestick, All patterns of what shall be in the Mount; The whole temporal show related royally, And built up to eteme significance Through the open arms of God.^
The ritual custom of which our text speaks is one beautiful and instructive in itself, and full of large suggestion — long since dead as to the letter, but living still as to the spirit. The allusion is to the altar of burnt-offering in the court of the Tabernacle. It was concerning this altar and offering that the instruction was given that the fire should ever be kept burning and not be suffered to go out — an enactment well fitted to convey and to make clear and impressive the idea and duty of maintaining without break or interruption the worship and service of the living and true God in the life of Israel and in the life of every Israelite.
Let us ask three questions —
I. What is the fire ? II. How is it kindled ? III. How is it maintained ?
What is the Firb?
Among some of the ancient heathen nations, fire was kept constantly burning as a religious symbol. Thus among the Persians (and among the Parsees of India to this day) fire was, and is, the visible representation of the Godhead; and the continual burning of it the emblem of eternity. The perpetual fire of Vesta (" the oldest goddess ") among the Greeks and Romans was the emblem of the inmost, purest warmth of life which unites family and people — the hearth, as it were, the heart of a house or of a State. But we shall be led astray from the true significance of the ever-burning of the altar fire if we fix our
' E. B. Browning, Aurora Leigh.
LEVITICUS VI. 13 335
attention chiefly upon the "fire" itself, upon the fire, that is, apart from the altar. If we would get at the real meaning of this symbol, we must contemplate it in its inseparable connexion with " the altar." It was not mere " fire " that was to be kept perpetually burning, but the fire of " the altar " — " the fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually."
Consider the significance of the various sacrifices which were required to be offered upon the altar. They consisted of three kinds, viz. sin-offerings, burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings. The first of these, the " sin-offering," typified the death of the offerer to sin and self, through and by means of " the one offering for sins for ever," which was to be offered by Jesus Christ. The "burnt-offering" symbolized the life of the offerer dedicated to God ; just as the fire wholly consumed the bumt-offering, so the life of the offerer was to ascend up before God in living consecra- tion to His will. And " the peace-offering " was intended to set forth the privilege which the pardoned and consecrated believer enjoys of fellowship with God and with His people. May we not gather from this the signification of the command, " The fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually " ? Is it not this — viz. that what was signified by the sacrifices of the altar was to be the unceasing experience of God's people ? In other words, by the fire being constantly kept burning upon the altar was denoted the unceasing, uninterrupted character of the spiritual state or life which was indicated by the sacrifices of the altar.