The Pulpit Commentary — Leviticus — Section 56

neglect of appointed mles. The love of an inferior for his superior must not prevent the exhibition of due re.qpect. God will be had in reverence by all that are about him. Nor is it open to man arrogantly to pronounce that a consecrated way of access·through- Jesus Christ may be set aside as unnecessary, Christianity may have broadened the· road of approach, but it remains true that there is still an appointed road, To refuse l1onour to Christ is to treat God with disrespect. "Now is the Son of man glorified and God is glorified in him." Christless worship, thanksgiving, and prayer, must ~ shunned. JIJ. TIIE HO:s"OUB OF Got> EXPECTS AN OFFERING TO CONSIST OF THE DEBT THAT MAN POSSESSES. If poor, a turtle.dove would not be rejected, but for a rich man to offer the· same would be treated as an insult to God, And the offering from the herd or flock must be "a male without blemish." Strength and beauty combined are requisite to- satisfy the searching eye of the High and Lofty One. We see these requisites embodied in the Lamb of God, the perfect Sacrifice, "holy, harmless, undefiled." He knows little of God who imagines that he will be put off with scanty service, mean oblations. We ought to ask, not what is there can be easily spared, but how much can possibly btt laid upon the altar. Let us not mock him by indulging in our own pleasures, and, then giving to him the petty remnants of our poverty I Let us strive so to act that the firstfruits of our toil, the chiefest of our possessions, the prime of our life, the best. of our days, shall be devoted to purposes of religion I Bestow upon God the deepest thoughts of the mind, the strongest resolutions of the will, the choicest affections of the heart. JV, THE PERFE<n'ION OF Gon NECESSITATES ORDERLY ABBANGEMENT IN ALL THA'P CONCERNS HIS WORSHIP .U."D SERVICE. There is an appointed place for the offering, "the tabernacle of the congregation." The wood must be laid "in order upon thtt fire" (ver. 7), and the different parts of the victim must likewise be placed "in order upon the wood" (ver. 8). . To con.qtitute a chaos round about the throne is to derogate from the homage a king inspires. It intimates his powerlessness, his want of intelligent forethought and present control. Law reigns everywhere throughout the dominions of Jehovah. The heavenly bodies speak of the symmetry he loves, and plants, animals, and minerals teach the· same grand truth. •• Order is Heaven's first law." "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." In the worship of the sanctuary order and decency are of pre-eminent importance. Whatever shocks a devout mind is likely to be offensive to him all whos& ways are perfect. Arrangement need not degenerate into formality. The Sunday dress, the preparation for God's house, and the quiet attitude therein, are all important adjuncts to the spiritual edncation of the young. .. Be it observed further that order means economy of space and timt1. Those who- have no room nor leisure to be orderly do least and retain least. The laws of God are ever synonymous with the true interests of man. V. THE PUBITY OF Gon OBLIGES THAT THE OFFERING DE CLEANSED FROM DEFILE· KENT. Those parts of the victim naturally subject to defilement are to be washed in water," the inwards and the legs." One might deem this a superfluous proceeding, since they were to be so soon burnt upon the altar. But this would mean an extremely erroneous view of the solemnity of a sacrifice. Those who have not time to serve God properly had better not try it at all. He who counts it a trouble to read and pray bas little conception of the insult he offers to God. Defore we bow before the Lord to render our tribute of adoration and praise, it were well to purify our hearts, to hallow the desires that may have bee )me impure, to call home our wandering thoughts, and to loose the dusty sandals from the feet which have been treading in the ways of the world. The Almighty desires no part to be absent fro~ the offering. The a~ections, the strength, the time, the money, that have been ~av1shed on _un_wor~hy objects ar& not in themselves sinful, they are unclean and require the sanct1fymg mfluence of the blood of Christ, and the water of the Word, and then they are fit to be rendered unto God and consumed in the fire that testifies his acceptance of the worehipper.-S. R. A. Ver. 9.-0ur reasonable ,ervice. 'l'Le burnt offering appears to have been the most gennal of the sacrifices presented to Jehovah, and to have had the widest significance. Its s1 ,iritual counterpart is furnished jn Rom. xii. 1. Meditation upon the prophetic- 1,ym Lui will shed light upon the "living sacrifice" of the gospel dl1•r-~11~ation. a. I. 1-17,] THE BOOK OF TuEVITICUS. 11