508 COVENANT SACRIFICES. shall be Aaron's and his sons'" (Lev. ii. 1-3). An exception was made in regard to the offering of the priest himself, which was wholly consumed on the altar (Lev. vi. 23). In meat offerings accompanying thanksgiving offerings, and probably also in the other peace offerings, a single cake was taken out of the whole offering for the Lord, which then became the priest's portion (Lev. vii. 14), the rest, as we may infer, being returned to the offerer. 66 The idea conveyed in meat offerings was that of a gift" to God, for so the word means in the original Hebrew. Its substance was therefore with great propriety selected from that which was more particularly the production of man's skill and industry, viz., corn in one of its various forms. It thus seems to symbolize spiritual activity, and the necessity which lies on us to present to Almighty God the fruits of a holy life. The consumption by the offerer himself of the cakes offered after their presentation to Jehovah, shows in a lively manner that the blessing of works of holiness will revert to him who performs them. It served as an assurance that "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed towards his name" (Heb. vi. 10). Before concluding the subject of sacrifice, we have to notice some customs practised in connexion with forming a covenant and with the consecration of persons to God's service. The covenant was generally sealed by a sacrifice, the details of which differed from the usual routine. Sometimes the animals were divided into two portions, which were ranged in parallel rows, leaving an intermediate space, through which the contracting parties walked, thereby implying an expectation that the same fate as had befallen the victims would befall him who first broke the terms of the covenant. We have an example of this in the covenant made with Abraham :-" He took unto him all these (the victims), and divided them in the midst, CONSECRATION SACRIFICES. 509 and laid each piece one against another... and it came to pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram (Gen. xv. 10, 17, 18). The smoking furnace and the burning lamp were the tokens of the Divine presence. There is a reference to the same custom in Jeremiah xxxiv. 18, 20:-"I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof... I will even give them into the hand of their enemies." The ratification of the covenant between God and His people Israel was accompanied with burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and then we read that "Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words" (Exod. xxiv. 6-8). We have here not only a ratification of the treaty, but also a consecration of the people by the sprinkling of the half of the blood on them. For the blood of the same animal being partly placed on the altar, and partly on the people, signified the union of the people with God, His acceptance of their promise of obedience, and their participation in His grace and mercy. Allusion is made to this ceremony in the epistle to the Hebrews, with a view to show the fulfilment of the typical shedding of blood in the Saviour's death :— "When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, 510 CONSECRATION SACRIFICES. and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you (Heb. ix. 19, 20). From this passage we learn that even the book was sprinkled, to signify the ratification of the terms of the covenant made between Jehovah and His people. The consecration of the priests was also effected by the application of the blood of the sacrifice to certain parts of the body :-"He (Moses) brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot" (Lev. viii. 22, 23). The members specified were those chiefly exercised in the priestly office, and thus represented all the organs of the body, the right side being in each case specified, inasmuch as that was the strongest and most honourable. The application of the blood to these implied a covenant instituted between God and the priest, by which he and all his members were dedicated to holy offices. Subsequently to this followed a sprinkling of blood mingled with oil:"Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinked it upon Aaron and upon his garments," (Lev. viii. 30). The sprinkling of the oil (the emblem of the Holy Spirit) with the blood (the seat of life), was significant of the spiritual life which the priest was to live: and the garments are specially noticed, because they were the sign of his office. Lastly, the "filling of the hands," which we have noticed in a previous chapter as an important ceremony in the consecration of priests, was significant of their yet incomplete consecration; for Moses places the pieces in their hands, and waves them for a wave offering, and then taking them off their hand burns them on the altar. Among the pieces so burnt CONSECRATION SACRIFICES. 511 was the right shoulder, to which the officiating priests were generally entitled in thanksgiving offerings, while the breast, which belonged to Aaron and his sons, was given to Moses (Lev. viii. 25-29). These particulars seem designed to show the incompleteness of their consecration at that stage of the proceeding. PURIFICATION.-OCCASIONS THAT DEMANDED IT. MODES IN WHICH IT WAS PERFORMED. THE CASES OF ONE WHO HAD TOUCHED A DEAD BODY, AND OF A LEPER. PRACTICE OF PURIFICATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AGE.-PURIFICATION OF A TOWN FROM THE GUILT OF BLOODSHED.-CIRCUMCISION. -ITS SPIRITUAL MEANING. THE CUSTOM OF ANOINTING.OBJECTS AND PERSONS TO WHOM IT WAS APPLIED.-Vows.MOSAIC REGULATIONS RESPECTING THEM.-CORBAN.-CHEREM, OR THE VOW OF EXTERMINATION.-NAZARITE'S VOW.-THE DEDICATION OF THE FIRST-BORN, FIRST-FRUITS, AND TITHE. CLOSELY connected with sacrifice, and hardly inferior to it in importance and significance, were the rites of |