The Pulpit Commentary — Leviticus — Section 101

gation of the covenant at Sinai; and consequently it is to be taken as the rule for penitents, whose consciences have been educated in a more thorough detection of sin through the Law. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Wo have at this stage con- feqnently, a perceptible elevation of the moral standard, ' l. 'l'HE FIRST LESSO:s' OF THE SIN OFFEIII!i:G IS THAT SIN IS A NATURE, The superficial treatment of s_in deal~ with ouh,:ard and con~cious acts, such as trespassei,; what God declares by his Law 1s that, behmd all conscious acts of the will there are 'Tlatural, movements of which we are not conscious, and for which, neverthel:ss we are rc~ponsible. This important principle is affirmed by all these minute regulatio~s about sins of ignorance, The thoughtful Israelite would see from this that sin is a much wider and deeper thing than be at first suspected; that the motions of bis personal being are more numerous and varied than be supposed; that deliberation, in fact, is not essential to every sin, and does not cover responsibility. In other words, he would look within and realize that sin is a nature, working on, sometimes consciously and some- times unconsciously, and that for all its workings he will be held accountable. Xo more important principle lies in the field of self-examination. Without it there can be no thorough treatment of sin. With it we stand abashed and humbled under a sense of the unknown sin as well as of the known. We cry with David, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression" (Ps. xix. 12, 13; cf. also Shedd's 'Discourses and Essays,' No. VI.). IL SIN VARIES IN ITS HEINOl'SNESS. The Israelite not only recognized this whole category of sins of ignorance marshalled in the Law before him; he also saw a difference of treatment in the cases under review. A. sin of ignorance on the part of the high 11riest was made more emphatic than one on the part of a prince or a private person. The high priest's representative position and character modified the whole case, His sin of omission or neglect became much more serious than a private individual's could be. He was consequently directed to bring a bullock, the same offering as for a sin on the part of the collective people; for his representative character made him, so to speak, a moral, equivalent to them. While, therefore, it is well to recognize sin as a nature, we must aLso remember that God does not treat sin in the mass, but discrimi- nates between the more or less guilty, In his morality there are the most delicate appreciations and adjustments. Penitence must likewise be discrimi11ating e.s well as profound. Self-examination may be a most humiliating and disappointing process, but we should weigh the relations of our faults and sins when we discover them and deal faithfully with ourselves. JI!, YET ALL SINNERS ABE PLACED WITITIN REACH OF AN APPROPRIATE ATONEMENT. The high priest and the collective people, the prince and one of the common people, each and all had their prescribed offering and guaranteed atonement. And when people proved so poor that they could not offer turtle-doves or young pigeons, they were directed to bring an cphah of fine flour, with which the priest would make atone- ment. And as for this atonement, it is in all cases secured by the surrender of life. Even the ephah of flour conveyed this idea, for the germ is hopelessly sacrificed in its manufacture. The one idea binding the various sacrifices together is the surrender of life. That this idea is to be attributed to substances in the vegetable kingdom BS well as the animal, is evident from John xii. 24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." . And it need scarcelv be added that the atonement of which these sin oll'erings were tn,es is that of the Lord Jesus, who "was OllC? offered to bear the s_ins of many" (~eb. :x. 28; also vers. 11-14). In the proclamatwn of the gospel, tlus most appropriate atonement is put within the reach of all. No sinner is excluded from the possibility of atonement except through his own self-will. IV, THE BEC:ONCILIATJON WITH THE PEJSlTENT, WHICH ATONEMENT SECURES, 18 A MATTED OF nEi;r• DELlOHT TO Gon. For not only is the blood of the sacrifice accepted at the appropriate spot, whether vail and altar of incense, or the brazen ultar only, according to the statue of the penitent; but there is besides an BCceptance of the best portions of the animal upon the altar, indicating that Ood is delighted with the OB. IV. 1-35.] THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 57