ple.y of intercession and appeal, and remember that, while it is a God of justice who is se.tisfied, he proves himself in the transaction a God of grace. III. AFTEB THE INCENSE THERE 18 BROUGHT IN Tllli BLOOD, Jl'IR8T 01" HIS OWN sm OFFERING, AND TllEN OF THE PEOPLE'S. The blood of Jesus Christ is symbolized by both, and the act of sprinkling it before God is also to be attribnted to our Great High Priest. "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. n ",Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eterne.l redemption for us" (Heh. ix. 24, 12). Now, the presentation of blood unto God, and the sprinkling of it seven times in the appointed place, represented the appeal which the self-sacrifice of Jesus, bis Son, is so well calculated to make to the Divine mercy in the interests of guilty men. The law of mediation is that self-sacrifice stimulates the element of mercy in the Judge.' And if it be objected that surely God does not require such an expensive stimulant, the reply is that the self-sacrificing Son and the stimulated Father and Judge are in essence one. The act is consequently a Divine self-sacrifice, to stimulate the element of mercy towards man, and make it harmonize with justice. Here then we have remission of sins secured through the sbeda.:ng of the blood of Jesus. Pardon and reconciliation are thus put within the reach of the sinner. IV, BUT THE HIGH PRIEST WAS EXPECTED NOT ONLY TO BECUBE THE PARDON OF BINS, RUT ALSO TO PUT IT AWAY BY THE DISMISSAL OF THE S0APEGOAT. For the pardon of sin is not all man needs. He requires sin to be put away from him. He needs to be enabled to sing, "As far e.s the east is from the west, so fe.r bath be removed our transgressions from us" (Ps. ciii. 12). Now, this putting away of sin was beautifully represented in the dismissal of the scapegoat. This second sin offer- ing, after having the sins of the people heaped upon its head by the priestly confession, is sent away in care of a fe.ithful servant to the wilderness, there to be left in loneliness either to live or die. Here again we he.ve a type of Jesus. He is our Scapegoat. He carried our sins on his devoted head into that wilderness of desolation and loneliness, which compelled from him the cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" There did he fully atone for them, and secured their annihilation. As we meditate upon this portion of his mediation, we are enabled by the Spirit to realize that sin is put away through Christ's sacrifice of himself (Heh. ix. 26). That desolation of the Redeemer into which he entered for us interposes itself, so to speak, between us and our sins, and we feel a wholesome separation from them. How can we ever love sin when we realize that it led our Lord to this? V. THE HIGH PRIEST, HAVING THUS DISPOSED OF BIN, BEBUlll!lD HIS GLORIOUS GABMENTS, AND OFFERED TilE BUBNT OFFERING FOB HDIBELF AND THE PEOPLE. The stages already noticed have been prayer, the remission of sins through the shedding of blood, and the putting away of sin through the dismissal of the victim. Now comes dedication as the crowning purpose of the atonement, and which the burnt offering all along bas indicated. It is Christ who offers this burnt offering, and is the Burnt Offer- ing. That is to say, he has offered for men a perfect righteousness, as well as afforded us a perfect example. Our consecration to God is ideally to be a perfect one--but really bow imperfect I but Christ is made unto us sanctification; we are complete in him; we are accepted in the Beloved; and we learn and try to live a.a he lived, holy as he was holy. Moreover, upon the burnt offering WBII presented the fat of the sin offering, the Lord thus emphasizing bis satisfaction with the atonement, and his o.cceptance of it. The remainder of the sin offering, as a sacred thing, is carried to a clean pince without the camp, and there burned. In no more beautiful way could God convey the w;surance to his people that the ritual of atonement we.a complete and acceptable to him. It is when we gratefully dedicate ourselves to God, which is our reasonable service, that we receive the assurance of acceptance in the Beloved. VI. THE WASHING OF THE THBEE HEN 0FFIOIATING ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT CONVEYS BUBELY THE IDEA OF THE C0NTAIIIINATING POWER OF BIN. For the high priest, before he puts on the glorious garments and presents the burnt offering, is 1 Of. Mozley, ut wp,a, p. 189. 250 THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. [OB, XVI, 1-34,
•equired to wash himself in water. The m11.n who piloted tl1e ·sc11.pe<1oat to the wilder- ness has also to perform careful and complete ablutions. And eo has the man who took the remains of the sin offering beyond the camp,. For all three had to dea.l with sin and are ceremonially affected by it. Most vivid must have been the impression th~s produced upon the people. Sin would appear the abominable thing which God hates, when it is so defiling. We hav~ here the clim~x of the sacrificial worship, The Day of Atonement would be a rest mdeed to the. sm-burdened people. At the tabernacle they see in ritual how God could be reconciled to man, and how he could pardon and put away sin. As the smoke of the burnt offering passed up to heaven, many a soul felt that a burden was gone, and that t_he ~eavens were s~iling once more.. May the experience of the day of atonement abide in our hearts still, for we need it as much as the pilgrims long ago.-R. M. E.