the levitical feasts and offerings

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THE LEVITIICAL

FEASTS AND OFFERINGS

The Spiritual Life of the Ancient Jew with

Lessons for the New Testament Christian

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter One Background to Leviticus

Chapter Two Interpreting the Types in Leviticus

Chapter Three The Burnt Offering

Chapter Four The Meat Offering

Chapter Five The Peace Offering

Chapter Six The Sin Offering

Chapter Seven The Trespass Offering

Chapter Eight The Feast of The Passover

Chapter Nine The Feast of Pentecost

Chapter Ten The Feast of Trumpets

Chapter Eleven The Day of Atonement

Chapter Twelve The Feast of Tabernacles

Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION

Over the course of the following chapters I invite the reader to join with me in a

journey as we uncover the roots of God’s redemptive purpose to man, as that was

revealed to ancient Israel. We will view the blood and gore of the Levitical offerings;

from the carving of the bullock to the dismembering of the dove and the offering of

the fat and vital organs of the ram. We will join the congregation of Israel as they

celebrated the feasts of the Lord from the Passover through to the Feast of

Tabernacles. The lamb will be slain, the trumpets will sound, the High Priest will

enter the Holy of Holies on the most scared day of the year and the people will rejoice

for one week as they dwell in little dwellings made from the branches and foliage of

trees.

These sacrifices and feasts were varied in their character and at times the detail

appears to be tedious and without meaning until we are called to remember the words

of Paul to the Romans; “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written

for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have

hope.”1 Therefore we are obliged to consider these rites because the gracious God has

lessons for the church today to learn from them.

It will be necessary initially to examine Leviticus in its historical and Biblical setting.

This will be done in the first chapter, which is essentially a consideration of the first

verse of the book. Having contemplated the background some time will be devoted to

the importance of typology as a branch of Biblical learning. This involves the setting

1 Romans 15:1

4

forth of some general rules for the interpreting of types, which are so crucial to our

understanding of Leviticus. The thesis will then progress to a consideration of each of

the offerings and feasts in turn with attention being paid to the peculiarities of each,

together with their unique application to the modern church.

With these prefatory remarks let us commence the journey with the prayer that God’s

glory would shine into our hearts as we consider his truth.

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CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUND TO LEVITICUS

In approaching this subject one consideration must be paramount in our thoughts; the

Book of Leviticus, in common with other four books of the Pentateuch, the remainder

of the Old Testament scriptures and the entire canon of the New Testament, is the

verbally inspired word of the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, the God of Israel, the

Redeemer of Mankind, the covenant keeping Lord whose name is Jehovah.

This statement is vital because no man can profitably study the Bible without first of

all accepting the premise that this is a supernatural book coming from the God of

eternity to the finite creatures of time. Therefore the World Congress of

Fundamentalists, when drawing up their definition of Fundamentalism in 1980 began

with the statement, “A Fundamentalist is a born again believer in the Lord Jesus

Christ who maintains an immoveable allegiance to the inerrant, infallible, and

verbally inspired Bible”1.

Therefore when Leviticus begins, “And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto

him out of the tabernacle of the congregation saying, speak unto the children of Israel,

and say…”2, we deduce two facts. Firstly, the penman who recorded the word spoken

was Moses and secondly, this book originated in the mind of God. These are

important observations because no part of Holy Writ has been attacked as to its

authorship quite like the writings that God attributes to Moses.

1 Dictionary of Theological Terms, Cairns, Alan,

Ambassador-Emerald International, Belfast and Greenville, 1998, Page 157. 2 Leviticus 1:1,2

6

In the Nineteenth Century the theorising of the Higher Critics resulted in the Graf-

Wellhausen hypothesis or the J E D P theory. This theory dismembered the

Pentateuch, in addition to other portions of the Old Testament, by denying the Mosaic

authorship and claiming that “the Pentateuch is a patchwork of documents written by

unknown men whose hand can be traced by their use of the divine names and other

literary marks. Thus J used the name Jehovah, E used Elohim, D fused their work to

produce Deuteronomy, and P was a very late priestly writer.”3 This hypothesis works

on the assumption that the Pentateuch is largely based upon two documents, the

Jehovistic document and the Elohistic document. Ezra incorporated the priestly

legislation, Deuteronomy was included during the reign of King Josiah and Leviticus

chapters 17-26 were eventually written in the days of Ezekiel, although not by the

prophet.

Edward J. Young in his “Introduction to the Old Testament” produces ten reasons

why the Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis is untenable. I wish to discuss three of these

well-argued positions, which have direct bearing upon the subject matter of this

thesis, Leviticus.4

1: It assumes that Israel developed on the basis of her natural abilities and created her

unique conceptions of God by human knowledge and philosophy. Christianity,

however, believes that God intervened in the life of Israel by choosing the Hebrews to

be a special people for his own glory.


Ambassador-Emerald International, Belfast and Greenville, 1998, Page 109. 4 Introduction to the Old Testament, Young, Edward J..,

The Tyndale Press, London, Revised Edition, March 1956, page 141-142.

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2: In the Scriptures the priestly legislation and the Book of Deuteronomy are

attributed to Moses. As the Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis dates these parts of the

Pentateuch thousands of years post Moses then the Bible is a fraud, according to their

thinking.

3: The Graf-Wellhausen School dates Leviticus post Deuteronomy. Internal

evidence, however, would show that Deuteronomy actually presupposes parts of

Leviticus. Leviticus Eleven to Fifteen verse thirty-three, for example, provides

precise rules regarding the clean and the unclean. Deuteronomy Fourteen verses three

to twenty-one, however, supplies a summary of these laws. Reason would dictate that

the legislation would have been in place initially in order for the summary to be made.

Dr Young proceeds to show how the work of Graf-Wellhausen came under sustained

attack from among the Higher Critics in the early years of the 20th

Century as other

theories were set forth. Dr Alan Cairns writing over 50 years after Dr Young’s work

made this telling remark, “Though this theory has been rendered obsolete by the

patient study of the whole procedure of deducing different documents by the use of

the divine names, and by the discoveries of modern archaeology, it is still taught in

many theological institutions.”5 Dr Young concluded his chapter on “Literary

Criticism of the Pentateuch” with the remarks, “More than two hundred years of

exhaustive study have been unable to produce a satisfactory substitute for the time-

honoured Biblical view that Moses himself was the human author of the Law. Hence,


Ambassador-Emerald International, Belfast and Greenville, 1998, page 109.

8

we cannot do better than to regard the Pentateuch as the product of the great law-giver

of Israel”.6

The clearest evidence, however, that Moses penned Leviticus and indeed the other

four books of the Pentateuch is found in the Bible itself. The Westminster Divines

wisely wrote, “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed

and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon

God, (who is truth itself), the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because

it is the word of God”.7 As the Bible Christian presupposes the Scriptures to be the

revelation of God to mankind he needs look no farther than to this infallible book to

determine authorship and authority.

It is clear from the Pentateuch itself that Moses is attributed as being the author as we

have already noticed from the opening words of Leviticus. Exodus, Leviticus,

Numbers and Deuteronomy are replete with references to the Lord speaking the words

to Moses who in turn transmitted them to God’s people. The actual phrase “the Lord

spake unto Moses”, is found in the Pentateuch on 105 occasions. To argue against the

Mosaic authorship is to claim that these sacred books upon which the ancient Jewish

faith and indeed New Testament Christianity was erected were forgeries and

fabrications. It is to deny the essence of faith itself, which for Bible believer is

unthinkable.

Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament references are made to the Law as

being written by Moses. After the death of Moses God solemnly charged Joshua:

6 Introduction to the Old Testament, Young., Edward J.

The Tyndale Press, London, Revised Edition, March 1956, page 153. 7 Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch.1 Sec.4.

9

“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as

I said unto Moses….Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest

observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee:

turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever

thou goest”8 (bold type mine).

In Joshua 8 an altar was erected, the new leader copied the law of Moses and

blessings and curses were pronounced on the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim all

according to the words of Moses.9 Joshua led the nation in a successful military

campaign against the inhabitants of Canaan before dividing the territory among the

tribes. On each occasion he claimed his authority both for the war and geographical

distribution from the fact that Moses had given particular commands that had to be

followed:

“And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how

that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and

to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore

afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing…..As the LORD

commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land”10

(bold

mine).

As King David drew near to the point of death he emphasized the Mosaic authorship

of the law to Solomon with the words, ““And keep the charge of the LORD thy God,

8 Joshua 1:3,8.

9 Joshua 8:31-33.

10 Joshua 9:24, 14:5.

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to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments,

and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in

all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself”11

(bold type mine).

Solomon himself as he prayed at the dedication of the temple emphasised the same

point, “Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to

all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he

promised by the hand of Moses his servant”12

(bold type mine). This latter phrase

“by the hand of Moses” would indicate that Moses did not merely pass on the words

orally but literally wrote them down with his hand.

The later history of the Kings would illustrate that leaders were judged as to how they

observed the law, which God gave to Moses. Amaziah, King of Judah is an example

of one who failed in this regard, “But the children of the murderers he slew not:

according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the

LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor

the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his

own sin”13

(bold type mine). Conversely the saintly Josiah of Judah is commended in

this very detail, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the

LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all

the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him”14

(bold type mine).

After the captivity in Babylon the Hebrews enjoyed at least four periods of revival

under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. It is quite clear that these

11

1Kings 2:3 12

1 Kings 8:56 13

2 Kings 14:6 14

2 Kings 23:25

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awakenings involved a rediscovery of the word of the Lord, which Moses had

received. What ought to be of special interest to us in our consideration of Leviticus,

is that in Ezra and Nehemiah the Levitical Code is alluded to and in so doing Moses is

ascribed as being the author. Under Zerubbabel the altar was re-established for the

offering of sacrifices, “Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the

priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of

the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses

the man of God”15

(bold type mine)..When the temple was reconstructed the

priesthood was organised in keeping with the Pentateuch, “And they set the priests in

their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at

Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses”16

(bold type mine). Ezra himself as

a scribe was quite clear as to the authorship of the law which he was copying, “This

Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which

the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request,

according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him”17

(bold type mine). In the time

of Nehemiah’s leadership the people were awakened as to the importance of the great

festival of gratitude and joy, the Feast of the Tabernacles. Under Ezra’s ministry it

was discovered that this feast was instituted by Moses many years previous under the

inspiration of the Holy Ghost, “And all the people gathered themselves together as

one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the

scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded

to Israel…And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by

15

Ezra 3:2 16

Ezra 6:18 17

Ezra 7:6

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Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh

month”17

(bold type mine).

Of the prophets both Daniel and Malachi attribute authorship of the law to Moses:

“Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey

thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the

law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him”19

(bold type

mine).

“As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not

our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and

understand thy truth”20

(bold type mine).

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in

Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments”21

(bold type mine).

Throughout Old Testament times it is therefore evident that there was never any doubt

concerning the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. To the Jew this was something

sacred and untouchable. To deny Moses was the penman of the Torah, the five books

of the law, was to deny God and the entire range of ancient revelation. There was

never any suggestion that parts of the Pentateuch were added later and that it was not

complete until after the Babylonian exile. I have, I believe, demonstrated that Ezra,

18

Nehemiah 8:1,14 19

Daniel 9:11 20

Daniel 9:13 21

Malachi 4:4

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whom the Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis claimed, added the priestly code clearly

believed that Moses gave the entire law. We must stand, on this issue, upon the words

of Holy Scripture or we simply have no reliable faith. If Moses did not write the law

can we be sure then that Moses even existed? If Moses did not pen the Torah can we

believe then the account concerning creation? In other words to deny something so

clearly taught is to undermine the Scriptures of Truth, which is the end game of all the

schools of unbelief.

Not only, however, is it clear from the Old Testament scriptures that Moses was the

author of the Pentateuch but this teaching is also fundamental to New Testament truth.

Our blessed Saviour clearly emphasized the authorship of Moses on numerous

occasions of which the following are examples:

“And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the

priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them”22

(bold

type mine).

“ They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of

divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the

hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning

it was not so”23

(bold type mine).

22

Matthew 8:4 23

Matthew 19:7-8

14

“For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or

mother, let him die the death”24

(bold type mine).

“And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses,

how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God

of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”25

(bold type mine).

“And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer

for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them”26

(bold type mine).

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the

scriptures the things concerning himself”27

(bold type mine).

“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me”28

(bold type mine).

Christ therefore endorsed the traditional Jewish view that Moses was the sole author

of the Torah. To challenge this truth is to deny the position of Jesus Christ as Son of

God and second person of the Holy Trinity. Such is the supernatural unity of the

Word of God that a refusal to believe in the sole authorship of Moses of the first

books of Scripture is to commit the horrible blasphemy that Jesus Christ is not the

Saviour of men. Our Lord’s claim to be Saviour is erected upon his perfection as God

24

Mark 7:10 25

Mark 12:26 26

Luke 5:14 27

Luke 24:27 28

John 5:46

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and to undermine this is to sweep away the gospel of grace, the only hope for this

world of sin.

As the apostles and other followers of our Lord fulfilled his commission in bringing

the gospel to the world of men we would expect them to follow his example and

verify Moses as the author of the law. We therefore discover this to be the case

throughout the remainder of the New Testament. When Peter, the undisputed leader

of the twelve disciples preached in the temple he declared, “For Moses truly said

unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your

brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto

you”29

(bold type mine). As the saintly Stephen, from the first seven deacons, testified

of Christ under the shadow of martyrdom he spoke of God communicating directly

with Moses, “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had

appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion

that he had seen”30

(bold type mine). When James the chairman of the first church

council gathering summed up the deliberations of that momentous occasion he was

quite clear as to who was being read when the Torah was opened, “For Moses of old

time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every

sabbath day”31

(bold type mine). When Paul stood before King Agrippa he had no

doubts that his message was agreeable with the words which had written, “Having

therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and

great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say

should come”32

(bold type mine). Our final earthly view of Paul’s life is that of a

29

Acts 3:22 30

Acts 7:44 31

Acts 15:21 32

Acts 26:22

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preacher being absolutely faithful to the word of God, part of which was the writings

of Moses the man of God, “And when they had appointed him a day, there came

many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of

God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of

the prophets, from morning till evening”33

(bold type mine). When the mighty

apostle of the Gentiles was unfolding the mysteries of the Gospel in his majestic letter

to the Romans he was certain that Moses received his writings from the mouth of

God, but was Moses which received them, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy

on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have

compassion”34

(bold type mine). Communicating with the Corinthians the same

apostle made mention of the ceremonial law originating under inspiration from the

pen of Moses, “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the

mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?”35

(bold type

mine). Finally, in his Epistle to the Hebrews Paul emphasized that the design and

construction of the tabernacle, upon which much of Leviticus is based, while coming

from God was communicated to the Israelites by Moses the great prophet of Israel,

“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was

admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he,

that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount”36

(bold

type mine).

If we are therefore to accept the teachings of the New Testament we must believe the

often-repeated assertion that the Pentateuch was written by the hand of Moses. This is

33

Acts 28:23 34

Romans 9:15 35

1 Corinthians 9:9 36

Hebrews 8:5

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important not only because his authorship is referred to plainly but also because the

preaching of Christ and the apostles was based upon the Law of Moses. The New

Testament both enhanced and perfected the words that Moses received thousands of

years earlier. Moses gave the Law, which was in itself a revelation of God, his

holiness, his justice and his truth. While this concept of an angry God was prominent

in the Old Testament we view glimpses of the mercy of Jehovah in providing grace

for rebellious and disobedient man. The demands of the Ceremonial Law, which will

figure highly in this thesis, were in effect an act of grace. Through the blood and gore

of the Levitical offerings we view God graciously offering Israel peace. Through the

solemnity of the feasts with their strict and precise observance we see God in the Law

extending himself in mercy to fallen man. The revelation of grace in those ancient

times, however, was incomplete because Christ had not yet arrived. The people of

Israel saw something of Jehovah’s mercy but it was only a shadow that would

eventually be illuminated by the glory of Christ’s appearance. It was Robert Murray

McCheyne who wrote so beautifully on this very subject, “Suppose that one to whom

you were a stranger was wrapt in a thick veil, so that you could not discern his

features; still if the lineaments were pointed out to you through the folds, you could

form an idea of the beauty and form of the veiled one. But suppose that one whom

you know and love – whose features you have often studied face to face – were to be

veiled up in this way how easily you could discern the features and form of this

beloved one! Just so the Jews looked upon the veiled Saviour, whom they had never

seen unveiled. We under the New Testament, look upon an unveiled Saviour; and

going back to the old, we can see far better than the Jews could, the features and form

of Jesus the Beloved, under the veil. In Isaac offered (Genesis 22), in the scapegoat

(Leviticus 16), in the shadow of the great rock Isaiah 32:2), in the apple tree (Song Of

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Solomon 2:2) what exquisite pictures there are seen of Jesus! And how much more

plainly we see the meaning than believers of old.”37

If the New Testament is indeed

an unveiling of the Old Testament then it is vital that we believe all the assertions

made in Scriptures regarding the Law and the other Hebrew scriptures. We cannot,

therefore, understand the New Testament without the Old Testament and vice versa,

as they are two parts of the one whole. This is surely apparent from the abundance of

references to and direct quotes from the Old Covenant in the writings of the apostles.

These references and quotes are so numerous that we can boldly declare that the New

Testament is based upon Old Testament truth. Therefore our Saviour said, “Think not

that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to

fulfil.”38

Perhaps the clearest reference to the relationship between the writings of

Moses and ministry of our Lord is found in the first chapter of John’s Gospel:

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”39

Here Christ is presented in contrast to Moses who is described as giving the Law.

While the Law, which represented holiness and justice, was pre-eminent in the

ministry of Moses grace and forgiveness were key features in the life and teachings of

our Saviour. At the same time, however, I am convinced that this text clearly shows

that Moses’ ministry was a preparation for the later ministry of Christ. Both

ministries differ only regarding their emphasis yet at the same time they stand

together as two indissoluble features of the same message. Christ engendered much

opposition among the Jews by presenting this very argument, ““But if ye believe not

37

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Pages 8-9.

38 Matthew 5:17

39 John 1:17

19

his (Moses) writings, how shall ye believe my words?”40

(brackets mine). The

importance of Moses’ ministry and writings in the person and work of Christ was

clearly evident when he appeared with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.41

This

account told so vividly in three Gospels surely rubber stamps all the claims in

Scripture that Moses was indeed the sole human author of the Torah, as the ancient

Jews so firmly attested. His pre-eminent position as one of the representatives of the

Old Testament economy can only explained by the fact that he did receive the words

of the Pentateuch which he then recorded in accordance to the requirements of

Jehovah.

Therefore to claim that Moses did not write the Pentateuch is not only to undermine

the deity of Christ and the authority of the apostles but it is to totally destroy the core

message of redemption in the gospel of grace. If Christ came to fulfil the Law of

Moses and if his ministry presupposed the existence of and the teaching of Moses,

then to sweep away Moses is to violate the work wrought on the cross when the

bleeding Lamb of God took upon his body the sins of humanity. There is quite

simply no Christ, no gospel, no substitutionary death, no resurrection, no new birth

and no second coming without Moses and his authorship of the Pentateuch.

Let us then return to the first words of Leviticus where two facts are clearly presented:

“And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the

congregation, saying,”42

40

John 5:47 41

Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28-36

42 Leviticus 1:1

20

I have developed the first fact essential to our understanding of the book; that the

authorship of Moses is without question an integral part of the whole range of Biblical

and gospel truth. Now I wish to turn to the second fact which is deduced from these

introductory words; that Leviticus is inspired, coming not merely from the mind of

Moses but from God himself as the primary author. Leviticus is therefore part of the

revealed word of God wherein Jehovah presents himself and his will not only to

ancient Israel but also to believers in this New Testament age.

When the Westminster Divines framed the Shorter Catechism their answer to the

question, “What do the scriptures principally teach?”, has much to instruct us both in

regard to God’s purpose in giving us Leviticus as well as the other books which

comprise the Word of Truth, “The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe

concerning God, and what duty God requires of man”43

. The first task of scripture is

to teach us the identity of God. Therefore throughout the scriptures God reveals

himself. The Bible is essentially a book of divine revelation. B.B. Warfield

succinctly wrote on this issue, “The religion of the Bible thus announces itself not as

the product of men’s search after God, if haply they may feel after Him, but as the

creation in men of the gracious God, forming a people for Himself, that they might

show forth His praise. In other words, the religion of the Bible presents itself as

distinctly a revealed religion. Or rather, to speak more exactly, it announces itself as

the revealed religion, as the only revealed religion; and sets itself as such over against

all other revealed religions, which are represented as all products, in a sense in which

it is not, of the art and device of man.”44

Warfield in his article on the “Biblical Idea

of Revelation” proceeded to identify the process of revelation. As God gave his word

43

Answer to Question 2 of the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Standards. 44

The Works of Benjamin B Warfield, Volume 1, Warfied Benjamin B.,

Baker Book House Company 2003, page 4.

21

he progressively revealed himself to man building as it were one brick on top of

another until with the close of the Apocalypse he finally unveiled a complete

manifestation of himself, which we are privileged to enjoy today. God did not only

reveal himself in gradual way throughout the era of inspiration but he also used

various modes. Quoting from A.B. Davidson (“OT Prophecy 1903 p 148; c.f. pp. 12-

14, 145 ff”) Warfield highlights two ways by which God revealed himself in the Old

Testament age:

“What may be somewhat indefinitely marked off as the Patriarchal age is

characteristically ‘the period of outward Manifestations and Symbols and

Theophanies:’ during it ‘God spoke to men through their senses, in physical

phenomena, as the burning bush, the cloudy pillar, or in sensuous forms, as men

angels etc…In the Prophetic age, on the contrary, the prevailing mode of revelation

was by ,means of inward prophetic inspiration’: God spoke to men characteristically

by the movements of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. ‘Prevailingly at any rate from

Samuel downwards, the supernatural revelation was a revelation in the hearts of the

foremost thinkers of the people, or as we call it, prophetic inspiration, without the aid

of external sensuous symbols of God.’”44

There is certainly a lot of truth in what Davidson had to say on this point. I believe it

is fair to point out, however, that in the Patriarchal age God did at times speak

inwardly via “prophetic inspiration”, as Davidson puts it, because without this it

would have been impossible for Moses to write the great history of the beginnings,

Genesis. Also in the later Prophetic age, so defined by Davison, God on occasions

presented himself by supernatural phenomena. The visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel and


Baker Book House Company 2003, page 14.

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Daniel45

are clear examples of this, when men were clearly overwhelmed by awesome

visions of a holy God. I think Davidson is clearly wrong to assert that in the

“Prophetic age” God spoke supernaturally through the “foremost thinkers of the

people.” This certainly creates the impression that God was choosing men of natural

flair and ability to relay his word. It is true that many of the prophets, as in the case of

Moses, possessed brilliant minds but others such as Amos, the Herdman of Tekoa,

had no great academic attainments. God selected his spokesmen for reasons of grace

and equipped them for the task of revelation regardless of their literary genius.

Broadly speaking, however, Davidson’s statements are true and they do demonstrate

the fact that God did speak progressively using various means throughout the Old

Testament age in revealing himself.

Moses, therefore falls naturally into what Davidson calls the Patriarchal age where

God did speak more often through physical phenomena. Moses did experience such

intercourse with Jehovah at the burning bush for example. Nevertheless it is also true

to say that such was God’s intimacy with the great law giver of Israel that the

relationship with Moses stands unique not only among the Patriarchs but also among

all the Old Testament authors. The Lord drew attention to the singular position with

which Moses was favoured with the following speech, “And he said, Hear now my

words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto

him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who

is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently,

and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore

45

Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7-12.

23

then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”46

Therefore after the

passing of this remarkable individual the Lord underscored the importance of his life;

“And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew

face to face,”47

. While Moses is afforded a most unique place in the annals of

revelation we must not, however, be drawn into thinking that his writings are more

inspired that the other Old Testament penmen. The Bible is inspired not because of

the human author but because God spoke the word. B.B. Warfield noted this vital

point:

“The circumstance that God spoke to Moses, not by dream or vision but mouth to

mouth, is, indeed, adverted to (Num. 12:8) as a proof of the peculiar favour shown to

Moses and even of the superior dignity of Moses above other organs of revelation;

God admitted him to an intimacy of intercourse which he did not afford to others. But

though Moses was thus distinguished above all others in the dealings of God with

him, no distinction is drawn between the revelations given through him and those

given through other organs of revelation in point of either Divinity or authority”.48

This brings us naturally to the miracle of inspiration. This Book of Leviticus is

indeed the word of God yet at the same time it is the writing of Moses. The Lord

gave the words to Moses but in so doing equipped the prophet to write them using his

natural literary skills. Therefore this book is God’s word as well a being the words of

a Hebrew educated in the royal house of Egypt by the best scholars available in the

world at that time. The miracle of inspiration fuses the mind of God with the abilities

46

Numbers 12:6-8 47

Deuteronomy 34:10 48


Baker Book House Company 2003, page 17

24

of man. This in turn creates a volume full of diversity and rich in human experience

while every word is eternal and unchangeable truth:

“You see, then, it was sometimes the artless and sublime simplicity of John;

sometimes the impassioned elliptical, rousing, and logical energy of Paul, sometimes

the fervour and solemnity of Peter; it was Isaiah’s magnificent and David’s lyrical,

poetry, it was the simple and majestic narratives of Moses, or the sententious and

royal wisdom of Solomon – yes it was all this; it was Peter, it was Isaiah, it was

Matthew, it was John, it was Moses; yet it was God”.49

There are two New Testament texts that clearly confirm the ancient Jewish belief that

Leviticus, as well as the other four books of the Torah and the entire Old Testament,

was given by God. The first is found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make

thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given

by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness:”50

The first question we need to address ourselves to here is, “What were the holy

scriptures?” The words “holy scriptures” literally read “sacred writings”. We must

bear in mind that Paul was writing as one who had been educated as a devout Jew.

For him, therefore, the holy writings were the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms or as

they were sometimes styled, The Law and the Prophets. This was the ancient Jewish

49

“Theopneustia:” The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, Gaussen L.,

Passmore and Alabaster, London, 1891. Page 54 50

2 Timothy 3:15-16

25

Bible which we today call the Old Testament. Timothy as the recipient had a Jewish

mother who exerted a tremendous influence for good upon her growing boy. For him

too the sacred writings were those ancient scriptures, which inevitably included the

Book of Leviticus.

The second raised by this passage is, “What does Paul mean by ‘All scripture’?” The

phrase “holy scriptures” come from the Greek words “hieros gramma” (sacred

writings) whereas the subsequent term “All scripture” is a different Greek

construction, “pas graphe”. There are, as I can determine, two interpretations as to

why this should be the case. Vincent’s word studies indicate that “ ‘graphe’ is the

single passage, usually defined by this, or that, or the, or which saith”.51

Vincent then

proceeds to argue that Paul is emphasizing that all the individual passages of scripture

are inspired. Therefore he is emphasizing inspiration in a more demonstrative manner

than he would have done had he simply called them the “Holy Writings”. “Vine’s

Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” certainly shows numerous examples

where “graphe” is used in order to quote individual passages of the Old Testament.52

Where Vincent’s analysis fails, I feel, is that it does not account for the manner in

which “gramma” is employed elsewhere in the New Testament. Indeed it is only in

the text in question where the translators have given “gramma” the rendering

“scripture”. As Vine points out this word literally means “a letter of the alphabet”.53

Therefore when Paul wrote “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with

mine own hand”54

he employed “gramma”. It is true that this word is an idiom of

51

Esword Commentary, downloaded from esword.net. 52

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vine W. E.

Macdonald Publishing Company, Maclean, Virginia. Page 1011. 53

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vine W. E.

Macdonald Publishing Company, Maclean, Virginia. Page 1012. 54

Galatians 6:11

26

speech and is therefore rendered writings and also learning. Therefore it is used in a

similar fashion to the phrase we would employ to describe an educated individual; “a

man of letters”. I would argue, however; why would Paul move from a word meaning

letter to one which means passage in order to assert more firmly that every part of the

Bible is inspired? Surely “gramma” would have been perfect in affirming that every

letter of the Old Testament was God given.

I feel that William Hendriksen is much closer to the mark in explaining why Paul in

Second Timothy Chapter Three uses two different words. He asserts, as I have done,

that the term “Holy Scriptures” means the sacred writings or the whole body of Old

Testament truth which Timothy would have received from his Jewish upbringing.

Then Hendrickson interestingly states, “ ‘All scripture’, in distinction from the ‘sacred

writings’ means everything which, through the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the

church, is recognized by the church as canonical, that is, authoritative. When Paul

wrote these words, the direct reference was to a body of sacred literature which even

then comprised more than the Old Testament.”55

I find this exposition to be logical

and satisfactory. Timothy when he was a child learned from the ancient Hebrew

Scriptures but now Paul was asserting that Timothy must remember that all scripture,

including the writings of the apostles, are inspired. For the purpose of this study,

however, I wish to emphasise that Paul was including the Book of Leviticus in this

statement “All scripture”.

The third question that this text poses is, “What did Paul mean by word inspiration?”

This is pivotal word, key to our understanding of the doctrine of the Bible. I have

55

New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles,

Henrickson, William and. Kistemaker, Simon J Baker Books, 1957, page 301.

27

found B.B Warfield’s comments to be more than helpful in that they blessed my soul

richly as I pondered this subject:

“The Greek term has, however, nothing to say of inspiring or inspiration: it speaks

only of ‘spiring’ or ‘spiration.’ What it says of scripture is, not that it is ‘breathed into

by God’ or the product of the Divine ‘inbreathing’ into its human authors, but that it is

breathed out by God, ‘God-breathed,’ the product of the creative breath of God. In a

word, what is declared to by this fundamental passage is simply that the scriptures are

a Divine product, without any indication of how God has operated in producing them.

No term could have been chosen, however, which would have more emphatically

asserted the Divine production of scripture than that which is here employed. The

‘breath of God’ is in Scripture just the symbol of His almighty power, the bearer of

His creative word. ‘By the word of Jehovah,’ we read in the significant parallel of

Psalm Thirty-Nine Verse Six, ‘were the heavens made and all the host of them by the

breath of his mouth.’ And it is particularly where the operations of God are energetic

that this term…is employed to designate them – God’s breath is the irresistible

outflow of his power. When Paul declares, then, that ‘every scripture,’ or ‘all

scripture’ is the product of the Divine breath, ‘is God-breathed,’ he asserts with as

much energy as he could employ that scripture is the product of a specifically Divine

operation.”56

It follows, therefore, that if this book is the breath of God then it must necessarily

possess the attributes of God. As the Scriptures are part of God they are logically

56



28

infallible, eternal and unchangeable. Our blessed Saviour constantly appealed to the

Scriptures, which in his day were the Holy Writings; the Law, the Prophets and the

Psalms. He used the power of the Word in defeating Satan in the wilderness. Three

times he used the words “it is written” to thwart the schemes of the Devil and so doing

won a convincing victory57

. Each of the references that our Lord quoted and by

which he won a notable victory, were from the Law of Moses.58

This is certainly an

infallible attestation of the power of God present in the Bible.

Christ also bore witness to the indestructible nature of the Scriptures:

“…the scripture cannot be broken”59

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no

wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”60

On this point we refer again to the telling remarks of B.B. Warfield:

“It belongs to Scripture through and through down to its most minute particulars, that

it is of indefectible authority.”61

57

Matthew 4:1-11 58

Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16 and 6:13 59

John 10:35 60

Matthew 5:18 61



29

This authority of Scripture as having the power and essence of God, which Christ bore

witness to, adds weight to Paul’s word to Timothy that all scripture was inspired,

God-breathed.

The major point I wish to draw from this text as we stand upon the threshold of

Leviticus is that this book is God’s Word and therefore we are duty bound to examine

its sacred contents. Many Christians today, I fear, are too content with what they

consider to be the simple and straightforward narratives. This undoubtedly results in

huge portions of scripture being neglected. The reason for this blatant disregard for

portions of God’s truth is sheer unadulterated spiritual laziness. The modern believer

shies away from Scriptures, which require overmuch thought and study. “Thinking

about the Bible is the preserve of the preacher and the theologian but I have neither

the time nor the inclination to spend time on parts of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, most of

the Minor Prophets and Leviticus”, is the plea of so many believers today. Paul’s

statement, however, surely demonstrates that all Scripture including the holy writings

of ancient times are the creative breath of God. Notice carefully that he proceeds to

teach that each part of God’s Word “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect,

thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”62

This application drawn from the

doctrine of inspiration provides a substantive reason as to why Leviticus should be

studied. The key words here are “profitable” and “perfect” or equipped. Time spent

on Leviticus will be profitable in that we will be better equipped to serve the Lord in

this wicked sinful world. We can therefore draw the inference that if we neglect this

portion we will be the losers because we will not be prepared for the Christian life as

62

2nd

Timothy 3:16-17

30

we may have been. Lack of preparation for God’s service may leave us open to

attacks from Satan and may eventually lead us into paths of sin we thought we would

never tread. In Second Timothy Chapter Two the apostle clearly taught that Timothy

had a responsibility to make himself “a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the

master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”63

Prior to making this comment

Paul carefully exhorted his young brother to ““Study to shew thyself approved unto

God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”64

Therefore Paul was constantly emphasizing, in what was undoubtedly his last epistle,

that one’s spirituality and usefulness was linked to the time and effort expended on

the Word, which included all the sacred writings which the Jews regarded as inspired.

The rites and ceremonies of Leviticus may appear tedious and at times we may

struggle to grasp their meaning but let us remember that a sovereign God has given us

this book for our learning and edification. Therefore the sacrifices and feasts of

Leviticus are as important to us spiritually as the records of Genesis, the devotions of

David, the histories of Christ and the apostles and the high doctrine of Paul because

they originated from the same infinite mind. As we examine this, the third book of

Moses, through the looking glass of New Testament truth we shall I trust uncover

diamonds which will enrich our Christian experience. By faith this will be our

experience because this book is the inspired Word of Jehovah.

The second New Testament text, which certainly confirms the fact that Leviticus is

part of God’s Word, is found in the writings of Peter:

63

2nd

Timothy 2:21 64

2nd

Timothy 2:15

31

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,

as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in

your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private

interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy

men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”65

Firstly let us dispense with the Popish myth that man has no right to attempt to

understand the Bible because “it is of no private interpretation”. The context of this

statement would teach us that what is in view here are not the principles for Bible

study, rather Peter is showing us how the Bible originated. Rome during the long

black centuries of darkness bound the people in ignorance by depriving them of this

“light that shineth in a dark place”. It is no wonder that the dark ages were

characterized by such superstition, ignorance and depravity when the source of light,

the Word of Truth was withheld from the people on the basis of a text wrested and

perverted by the powers of antichrist. Even in this post Vatican Council Two era,

when the Rome pays lip service to the Bible, she has miserably failed to enthuse her

people with any great love for the Word. When conducting some outreach ministry I

seized upon an opportunity to witness to a Roman Catholic priest. As I quoted

scripture he expressed admiration at the way “you people” ( by which he meant born

again Protestants) “know the Bible”. He went onto enquire if my people (my

congregation) read their scriptures and claimed that he could not get his people (the

Catholics of his parish) to read God’s Word. The fact remains that although the

Papacy may countenance the reading of the Bible she will not tolerate attempts to

understand the Scriptures because this will undermine her elaborate system of works

65

2 Peter 1:19-21

32

and merit, which run contrary to the core message of grace, which dominates God’s

Word. The people therefore will not read what they cannot study or comprehend. To

read the Bible with an enquiring mind would risk anathema and this must not be

contemplated.

Peter is essentially teaching us here that the Bible is a book of light because it came

not from the mind of man. In this book we do not discover the private views of Paul

or the personal prejudices of Matthew. Rather what is in view is the truth of God

because these “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”.

There is no doubt in my mind that Peter is describing all the writings of Old and New

Testaments with the term “prophecy”. After all, practically every book in the

scriptures contain prophecy by way of foretelling and certainly every pen man was a

forthteller, which was the primary function of the prophet. Peter’s main purpose in

this passage was to emphasise the reliability of God’s word. The text begins with the

remark, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy”. This begs the question,

“What are the inspired writings more sure or more certain than?” In the previous

verses he relates his own unforgettable experience, which he shared with James and

John, when he was an eyewitness of Christ’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.

After speaking of this event he emphasised that the inspired Word of God is more sure

than his own unique and blessed experience. We may not have stood with the

disciples at empty tomb on the morning of the resurrection, we may not have

witnessed Lazarus shuffling out of his place of burial, we may not have stood at the

base of Sinai’s thunderings nor watched with amazement as the Red Sea parted but

yet we possess something more sure than these spectacular events. We possess the

records of God and this is more important and more real than to have been physically

33

present when the events occurred. The importance of this cannot be minimised.

Many people witnessed the greatest miracles of all time and yet died as poor lost

sinners. It is not with the seeing of the eye, nor yet is it with the hearing of the ear

that man is convinced of the truth of God. The graves prepared in the wilderness for a

whole generation of Israelites, who had witnessed awesome demonstrations of power,

are evidence enough of this. Rather, man is convinced of the veracity of the Lord

through his Word alone. Therefore, in possessing the full counsel of Divine truth we

today have a stronger word than any of the believers living in Biblical times enjoyed.

This is, I am convinced, the full import of Peter’s words.

Then the one, who had a place of pre-eminence among the twelve, progressed to say

that this Word was more certain because it is the product of God moving in the hearts

of men by the Holy Ghost. These holy men of God, of whom Moses was one, only

transcribed what the Lord has put in their hearts. It is true that the intricacies as to

how God actually produced his words in the hearts and ultimately the pens of these

men are hidden from us. As Professor Gaussen adequately wrote, we are not called to

probe these hidden secrets that belong to God alone; “Were we asked, then, how this

work of divine inspiration has been accomplished in the men of God, we should reply,

that we do not know; that it does not behove us to know; and that it is in the same

ignorance, and with a faith quite of the same kind, that we receive the doctrine of the

new birth and sanctification of the soul by the Holy Ghost. We believe that the Spirit

enlightens that soul, cleanses it, raises it, comforts it, softens it. We perceive all these

effects; we admire and we adore the cause; but we have found it our duty never to

34

know the means by which this is done. Be it the same, then, with regard to divine

inspiration.”66

In the following section Gaussen then made this pithy remark:

“Such then is the Word of God. It is God speaking in man, God speaking by man,

God speaking as man, God speaking for man.”67

This is why we must give ourselves to the consideration of this book, which naturally

we may turn away from. The first verse ought to be argument enough. Surely God is

speaking in Moses, God is speaking by Moses, God is speaking as Moses and most

importantly God is speaking through Moses for Israel, not only the ancient people, but

the elect of all ages. This book is part of God’s Word because there is a message here

for us. By the grace of our Saviour let us grasp this message.

66

“Theopneustia:” The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, Gaussen L..,

Passmore and Alabaster, London, 1891. Page 28.

67 “Theopneustia:” The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, Gaussen L..,

Passmore and Alabaster, London, 1891.

35

CHAPTER TWO

INTERPRETING THE TYPES IN LEVITICUS

All who are diligent students of the Holy Scriptures are familiar with the word “type”.

This particular branch of Bible study is unique to the New Testament Christian.

Using this method the believer examines Old Testament truth using the searchlight of

New Testament doctrine in order that he might gain important insights into the mind

of God. Indeed, I would further add, that it is impossible to understand the Word of

God without taking time to study the types of the Old Testament. Either the rituals of

the ancient Jew have no relevance or importance to man today, unless he is a scholar

with an interest in such historic detail, or God has recorded these ceremonies for our

learning. We are therefore thrown back upon the premise that the Bible is God’s

inspired truth and that every detail is important not only for Israel historically but for

the New Testament Church, the Israel of God. To comprehend Leviticus we must

seek some understanding of this branch of theology known as typology.

Benjamin Keach in his excellent work, “Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of

the Bible”, produces five aspects of typology that have a bearing upon this particular

study. These remarks by a most learned and accomplished divine relate mainly to the

New Testament word “typos” which is the source of our English term, “type”. Keach

firstly stated that, “a type, is called a print or mark, which is made by beating as John

20.25. What we call the print of the nails, is in Greek….the type of the nails; that is,

the impression or holes left by the nails beaten or driven through his hands”.1 In

1 Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, Keach, Benjamin,

36

Leviticus we are presented with ancient rites that are engraved or stamped with

heavenly truth. Secondly Keach stressed that the “type denotes an example or

exemplar, which in certain actions we imitate, this goes before and is to be imitated.”2

The Greek word “typos” is used repeatedly in the New Testament with reference to

following a godly example set by another.3 The type therefore or the example always

goes before the follower. These ancient ceremonies in Leviticus were types of

patterns of what would transpire in the New Testament with the arrival of the

Messiah. It therefore follows that Christ fulfilled these examples perfectly and

therefore they must still provide us with significant teaching regarding his person and

work. Thirdly Keach stated that a type in classical usage was called “a description,

not very exact, viz., that which is made summarily, briefly and less completely.”4

This corresponds perfectly to the nature of the examples set forth in Leviticus. They

certainly teach us concerning Christ, yet the representation is only clear from the

vantage point of the New Testament. This is chiefly because the description of our

Lord in the type is imperfect which meant that the ancient Jew did not grasp the

glories of Christ, which we presently enjoy. Furthermore, Keach progressed to argue,

fourthly, that “a type, denotes a figure, image, effigy, or representation of anything,

and that either painted, feigned, or engraven, or expressed by any other way of

imitation, Acts 7.43.”5 While Jehovah consistently forbade the use of graven images

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 225. 2 Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, Keach, Benjamin,

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 225. 3 Philippians 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:9,

1 Timothy 4:12, Titus 2:7, 1 Peter 5:3 and 2:21. 4 Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, Keach, Benjamin,

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 225. 5 Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, Keach, Benjamin

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 225.

37

in worship he instituted the tabernacle with its attendant ceremonies as pictures or

illustrations of heavenly truth. The idolatrous nations were in bondage because of

dead idols but the children of Abraham enjoyed living truth enacted before their eyes

regularly through the glorious rituals of the ceremonial law. Keach finally

summarised his previous statements with as clear a definition of typology as is

possible to supply, in my estimation:

“Divines understand nothing else by types, but the images or figures of things present,

or to come; especially the actions and histories of the Old Testament, respecting such

as prefigured Christ our Saviour in his actions, life, passion, death, and the glory that

followed.”6

The key aspect of the above statement is Keach’s reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The study of typology is the study of Jesus Christ. These sacrifices and feasts of

ancient times were long fingers pointing forward to arrival of the Son of God. These

ceremonies were signposts showing the way to the Messiah who would arrive in the

fullness of times.

There is abundant evidence in the New Testament that it is both right and proper to

search God’s Word with an eye for the lessons to be gleaned from the types. Paul

called the earthly High Priest a “shadow of heavenly things”7 It follows, therefore,

that where there is shadow there must be the corresponding substance. The

ceremonies we shall consider throughout are the shadows full of hidden mysteries

which are unveiled by the advent of Christ, the light of men. In Hebrews Paul also

Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, Keach, Benjamin,

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 226. 7 Hebrews 8:5

38

described the tabernacle rites as examples or patterns; ““It was therefore necessary

that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the

heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”8 The use of this word

instructs us that while New Testament facts unveil the meaning of the Old Testament

it is equally true that New Testament doctrine is embodied in the Hebrew Scriptures.

If the ceremonial law was the pattern of what was to come then this proposition has to

be true. This gives the lie to the system of interpretation known as Dispensationalism

which wrenches the Bible out of joint by ignoring this intrinsic and vital unity. The

Saviour himself gave his approval to the use of typology with the use of the word

“sign”:

“But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after

a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as

Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be

three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”9

Here we are taught that some of the most unlikely subject materials may be types.

Who but the blessed Saviour could have taken the place of Jonah’s chastening and

transformed it into a prefiguring of Christ’s humiliation? The Lord here explained

that by remaining in the belly of the whale for three days the prophet was a sign of

Christ’s body remaining in the tomb for the same period. It is true that every type is a

sign and where there is a sign there must the thing that is signified. In these ancient

ceremonies we shall observe the signs revealing the way to Jesus Christ. The word

8 Hebrews 9:23

9 Matthew 12:39-40

39

figure is also employed in the New Testament with reference to the tabernacle

worship;

“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made

manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the

time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make

him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;”10

This is the Greek term “parabole” which means parable. As Christ employed

parables, which helped the people understand profound truth so Jehovah engaged the

same technique to teach Israel concerning the work of redemption. They were figures

looking forward to the teaching behind the parable, which was the person and work of

Christ our mediator. Closely linked to the word “parabole” is the Greek word

“homoiotes” which is translated similitude in the Authorized Version.

“And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there

ariseth another priest,”11

“Homoiotes” simply means “a resemblance”. In sacrifices and feasts we will observe

a resemblance of the salvation we presently enjoy in Christ, which must surely engage

our attention. Therefore through not only the Greek word “typos” but also through

these various other terms we are taught that typology is a Holy Ghost approved

system of Bible study.”12

10

Hebrews 9:8-9 11

Hebrews 7:15 12


40

It is not only important, however, to consider the actual types but in so doing we must

also think about the antitypes. The type in our case is found in the sacrifice or feast

whereas the antitype is the object typified. One is a necessary ingredient of the other.

It is worthy of our attention, however, that the New Testament uses a different set of

words to define the antitype as the fulfilment of the type. Consider what Paul wrote in

the Epistle to the Colossians:

“Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”13

The ancient ceremonies were the shadows whereas in Christ we observe the antitype

of the object shadowed which is the body. The body of our Saviour casts a shadow

over the entire Old Testament period whereas today we gaze upon the actual

substance and observe “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of

Jesus Christ”.14

Keach’s remarks on this matter are most quotable:

“In the time of the Old Testament God dwelt in the temple of Jerusalem, and upon the

ark of the covenant , in the mercy seat, but it was …typically. But when the fullness

of time was come, the whole of the Deity dwelt bodily, truly, and in a most eminent

manner personally in Christ’s human nature.”

Writing to the Hebrews Paul contrasts the type with the antitype with the words

“shadow” and “likeness”:

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 227. 13

Colossians 2:17 14

2 Corinthians 4:6

41

“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the

things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually

make the comers thereunto perfect.”15

The word “skia” (shadow) is a rude outline or the preliminary charcoal sketch of the

artist, according to Keach. On the other hand the “eikon” (image) is the complete

representation or to use the artistic illustration “the true and lively colours”.16

This

full representation is the antitype. Furthermore Paul also in his Epistle to the Hebrews

uses the phrase “heavenly things” to teach the existence of the antitype and contrast

them with the type which are depicted as being mere “patterns”.

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be

purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than

these.”17

Here the Holy Ghost gives his assent to the well-worn adage that a parable is an

“earthly story with a heavenly meaning”. In Leviticus we view the pattern or the

earthly story of redemption whereas the antitype reveals the reality of the heavenly

truth. Constantly it seems, these words emphasize the importance of looking into

these types. What better exercise for the believer than delving into heavenly truth?

This is the blessed thrust of this study. In John’s gospel the antitype is described as

being “grace and truth” which are the embodiment of the doctrine of the gospel:

15

Hebrews 10:1 16


Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 227. 17

Hebrews 9:23

42

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”18

The types were shrouded under the dark cloud of the Law, which reminded man of his

failure whereas with the advent of Christ our redeemer we meet the fullness of God’s

grace in the one who is the fullness of that Law. This contrast between law and grace

is perhaps the clearest and most fitting connection between the type and antitype that

may be uncovered in the New Testament. Paul took up this theme in his Epistle to the

Galatians:

“ But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which

should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us

unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”19

Here the type found in the law is the schoolmaster whereas the antitype is the lesson,

which is Christ. Under the type the Jews were shut up in bondage but with the arrival

of the antitype the glorious liberty of the doctrine of justification by faith became a

revealed truth. The person of Christ and reality of the gospel were present in ancient

times but they were obscure being veiled by the broken law. In this age these truths

have become apparent as the lesson taught by the old schoolmaster has now been

explained so clearly by Christ himself. Charles Wesley evidently grasped this truth

with the following verses:

Come, O thou Prophet of the Lord,

Thou great Interpreter divine,

18

John 1:17 19

Galatians 3:23-24

43

Explain thine own transmitted Word,

To teach and to inspire is Thine;

Thou only canst Thyself reveal,

Open the book and loose the seal.

Whate’er the ancient prophets spoke,

Concerning Thee, O Christ, make known;

Chief subject of the sacred book,

Thou fillest all, and Thou alone;

Yet there our Lord we cannot see

Unless Thy Spirit lend the key.

Now, Jesus, now the veil remove,

The folly of our darkened heart;

Unfold the wonders of Thy love,

The knowledge of Thyself impart:

Our ear, our inmost soul, we bow,

Speak, Lord, Thy servants hearken now.”20

Making use of the information gleaned generally from the Background to Leviticus,

Chapter One, and particularly from the current chapter as I have viewed the type and

in the antitype in New Testament usage, I now propose to outline certain

considerations, which must be paramount, in our thinking, when interpreting these

sacrifices and feasts.

20

Our Own Hymnbook, Psalms, Paraphrases and Hymns, Published by the Free Presbyterian Church

of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No. 187.

44

Firstly we must constantly remember that each part of God’s Word is important. This

consideration lifts these rites out of ordinary history, describing culturally remote

observances, to the supernatural administration of God’s grace which is most relevant

for the New Testament believer, who is a recipient of this same mercy. The Holy

Ghost emphasised this fact to the Roman believers through the penmanship of Paul,

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we

through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”21

In his “Typology

of Scripture” Professor Patrick Fairbairn stated that a study of the types actually gives

a grander view of the Old Testament Scriptures than we might have had if we never

fully discovered their worth:

“Another advantage resulting from a correct knowledge and appreciation of the

Typology of ancient Scripture, is the increased value and importance with which it

invests the earlier portions of revelation…For the whole of the Old Testament will

rise in our esteem, in proportion as we understand and enter into its typological

bearing.”22

One striking example of this is the ribbon of blue, which the Hebrew people were

commanded to fix to the hems of their garments as a constant reminder of the

commandments of the Lord.23

This little detail, found only once in the ancient

Scriptures, becomes all-important as the woman with the issue of blood touched

Christ, amid the throng of people, on the hem of his garment. As the ribbon spoke of

remembrance, Christ did not forget to show mercy to this poor woman who has spent

21

Romans 15:4 22

The Typology of Scripture Volume One, Fairbairn, Patrick, Glasgow,

T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 216. 23

Numbers 15:38-41.

45

all that she while her affliction intensified. How wonderfully the Scriptures agree

interpreting themselves casting light throughout?

In the second place as we search the ancient types we must constantly look for Christ.

He is truly in all parts of the inspired Word, even in places where we do not instantly

recognise him. Christ himself gave authority to this view of God’s Word in his

discourse to the disciples who walked the road to Emmaus with heavy hearts; “And

beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures

the things concerning himself”.24

This revealing of Christ by himself had a most

remarkable and memorable effect upon these followers as the themselves testified,

“Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he

opened to us the scriptures?”25

As we come to study the Scriptures it must be

important that we pray for a fuller view of Christ and that the scales might lifted from

our eyelids:

“More about Jesus let me learn,

More of his holy will discern;

Spirit of God, my Teacher be,

Showing the things of Christ to me.

More about Jesus in His Word,

Holding communion with my Lord;

Hearing his voice in every line,

Making each faithful saying mine

24

Luke 24:27 25

Luke 24:32

46

Eliza Edmunds Hewitt, 1851- 1920”26

Fairbairn despite all his intellectual ability and logical reasoning did not miss this vital

point, which he expressed with almost child-like confidence:

“In a word, the blessed Redeemer, whom the Gospel reveals, is Himself the beginning

and the end of the scheme of God’s dispensations; in Him is found alike the centre of

Heaven’s plan, and the one foundation of human confidence and hope. So that before

His coming into the world, all things of necessity pointed toward Him; types and

prophecies bore testimony to the things that concerned His work and His kingdom;

the children of blessing were blessed in anticipation of His promised redemption; and

with His coming, the grand reality itself came, and the higher purposes of Heaven

entered on their fulfilment.”27

It is important, thirdly, as we consider these types that we take time to familiarise

ourselves with, as in the case of this study, the sacrifices and feasts concerned. It is

impossible to come to any proper understanding of the antitype without primarily

studying the all the particulars of the rituals in their historical and cultural setting.

This can appear to be laborious but in the end, as with the toils of any workman, it

yields happy results. Again Professor Fairbairn I have discovered to be most helpful

with the comment, “…we are to find in what they were in their immediate relation to

the patriarchal of Jewish worshipper, the foundation and substance of what they

26


of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No. 406.

27


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 71.

47

typically present to the Christian Church…That they had a moral, political, or

religious end to serve for the time then present, so far from interfering with their

destination to typify the spiritual things of Gospel, forms the very ground of their

typical bearing. Hence their character in the one respect, the more immediate, may

justly to regarded as the essential key to their character in respect to what was more

remote.”28

It is a rule to be observed in all Bible Study that the context in which the text or the

passage sits must be the guiding principal in interpretation. Many heresies have

tragically been erected upon a failure to observe this hermeneutical precept.

Fourthly it naturally follows that the ceremony involved will be better understood by

examining the various Scriptures in which it is found. For example it would be

impossible to understand the Passover without considering the Exodus. The

celebrations of the Feast of Tabernacles in the days of Nehemiah and indeed in the

times of our Lord will throw much light upon this ceremony in Leviticus. To

comprehend the Feast of Pentecost it will be necessary to view the events of Acts

Chapter Two and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. By employing this rule the self-

interpreting nature and unity of the inspired word will become plain.

It is important, fifthly, that we identify the key truth revealed in each type. While

there may be many strands of truth in each rite there is a leading and a unique idea to

be discovered in each one. This must be the case otherwise the Lord would have

instituted one sacrifice and one feast instead of five of each. As the Bible is God’s

28


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882, 1882. Page 186,187

48

Word we must accept that there are two sets of five rites for a clear purpose. These

were regular ceremonies in the spiritual life of the ancient Jew. Therefore, there must

be a leading strand of teaching in the sacrifices with the out flowing of five clear sub

concepts. The same must be true of the feasts.

In the five offerings I can see lessons, which outline the devotion of the believer to

Christ. In this set of studies I shall show how various aspects of the Christian life are

brought into sharp focus through these ancients rites. In the Burnt Offering we see

Faith in Christ, through the Meat Offering we observe Following after Christ, from

the Peace Offering we are taught Fellowship with Christ, by contemplating the Sin

Offering we see Forgiveness by Christ and in the Trespass Offering we behold the Fee

Demanded by Christ.

When we come the five feasts I have observed a set of truths detailing the extent of

the Christian’s deliverance by the power and merits of Christ’s person and work. The

Passover presents Redemption through Christ, Pentecost Reviving by Christ, the Feast

of Trumpets instructs us in the art of Remembrance of Christ, the Day of Atonement

reveals Reception by Christ and in the Feast of Tabernacles we see Rejoicing in Christ

both in the temporal present and the eternal future.

The sixth rule to constantly remember is that each type is an incomplete picture

because it utilises earthly rituals. For example the blood of beasts foreshadowed the

precious blood of our Saviour, yet it was a very faint shadow because their blood was

of no value where redemption was concerned. The true value is found in the blood of

Christ, which these beasts prefigured, not in the creatures themselves as Paul stated:

49

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.28

”

We ought not therefore to be concerned by the incomplete nature of the type because

it is only a type. Using this principle it possible therefore to teach that David, despite

his many sins, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. I make mention of this fact because I

know this has caused God’s people much needless concern.

A seventh rule to bear in mind is that typology highlights the essential difference

between the Old and New Testament economies. In ancient times Jehovah taught the

people by the use of earthly images, which became unnecessary when the only

begotten Son came down from heaven. In the types therefore we observe the

workings of God, which differed chiefly because the Messiah had not yet arrived.

The Old Testament can then be summarised as the age of the type whereas the New

Testament is the age of the antitype.

Conversely in the eighth place typology also draws together the essential unity

between the Old and New Covenants. In ancient times the people needed God’s grace

provided through a High Priest who offered sacrifices that involved the shedding of

blood in order that Israel might enjoy access to God. These are essential gospel

doctrines, the only difference being they lived pre Calvary whereas we are in the post

Calvary era. Concerning this sacred unity Fairbairn wrote:

“However important is may be to note resemblances in the mode of communicating

divine truth, at one period as compared with another, it is more so to know that the

28

Hebrews 10:4

50

truth, however communicated, has been found one in its tendency and working; that

earlier and the later, the Old and New Testament Churches, though differing widely in

light and privilege, yet breathed the same spirit, walked by the same rule, possessed

and manifested the same elements of character. A correct acquaintance with the

Typology of Scripture alone explains how, with such palpable differences subsisting

between them, there should still have been such essential uniformity in the

result…Moses and Christ, when closely examined and viewed as the more

fundamental parts of their respective systems, are found to teach in perfect harmony

with each other. The law and the prophets of the Old Testament, and the gospels and

epistles of the New, exhibit but different phases of the same wondrous scheme of

grace. The light varies from time to time in its clearness and intensity, but never as to

the elements of which it is composed.”29

In the ninth instance we must remember as we ponder these types that there are

lessons we can learn about our salvation from the ancient Scriptures, which we would

not glean in any other place. This is mainly because these offerings and feasts were

earthly illustrations which taught certain truths which the people could grasp. The

blood and gore of the brazen altar cannot fail to take our eyes to Mount Calvary where

our beloved Saviour agonised on the altar of God’s wrath pouring out his life unto

death. A proper and prayerful consideration of these rites will, with the help of the

Holy Ghost, enable us to fall deeper into a loving relationship with Christ because by

earthly illustration we are shown what he gave for us.

29


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 210, 211.

51

The tenth consideration we ought to remember is that the types in Leviticus were acts

of worship. As the people gathered on the set days to commemorate the prescribed

feasts or as they approached the tabernacle with their offerings they were worshipping

Jehovah. We do not worship the Lord today through the use of these earthly symbols

because we enjoy the one symbolised, the Christ of God. Nevertheless we ought learn

from the attitude and reverence with which these ancient believers venerated the Lord.

While the ceremonies have passed into antiquity with the rending of the veil the

humble adoration of God in the heart of man remains. In fact we who enjoy the

Saviour, as these Hebrew worshippers did not, ought to have more fear, more

reverence, more reality and more adoration in our worship than they. As we gaze in

silence with the Jews upon the High Priest on the Day of Atonement entering the Holy

of Holies carrying the precious blood to sprinkle upon the mercy seat we ought to

weep because our Great High Priest has brought his blood, shed for our sins, within

the holy place made without hands in order that we might be redeemed. As we hear

with the ancient Jews the tinkling of the bells, fastened to the hem of the High Priests

robe of blue, testifying of a living mediator let us rejoice with joy unspeakable

because we enjoy a Saviour who was dead but now is alive and sustained by the

power of an endless life. As we look up with the congregation of Israel at the cloud,

the Shekinah glory of the presence of God, let us also fall down with awe and wonder

to think that he could ever be merciful to sinful wretches such as we are. In

interpreting these types we must pray that we would be taught in the art of worship

that the enjoyment of the Lord’s presence would be our refreshing and blessed

experience.

52

Another rule for interpreting these Levitical signs, in the eleventh place, is that we

must constantly employ New Testament light to illuminate the darkness of the

shadow. Patrick Fairbairn wrote on this point, “…we must be guided, not so much by

any knowledge possessed, or supposed to be possessed, by the ancient worshippers

concerning their prospective fulfilment, as from the light furnished by their realization

in the great facts and revelations of the gospel.”30

We know from our study of the

Book of Hebrews that the Jews did not fully understand the meaning of the

ceremonies in which they were engaged:

“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made

manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:”31

Peter also stated concerned the ancient prophets:

“Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who

prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner

of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand

the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”32

Therefore as the prophets did not comprehend the meaning of their prophecies but

constantly sought an interpretation so it would be consistent to argue that the same

would be true of the Levitical worshipper. After all, these types were in essence

prophecies not in word but in illustration. These signs enacted in the tabernacle, in a

30



Hebrews 9:8 32

1 Peter 1:10-11

53

very tangible sense, would be fulfilled in the ministry of Christ. These ceremonies

were, no doubt, helpful in strengthening the faith of God’s people and they did, I am

sure, perceive something of the grace of God in their worship. Nevertheless they did

not comprehend or see the full extent of Messiah’s redemption foretold through these

rites. Their knowledge therefore cannot be our yardstick. We require the light of

gospel to shine backwards through the pages and over the years so that we will see

Christ plainly in a way which, these ancient worshippers never could have. After

describing the characters of the heroes and heroines of the faith through Old

Testament history Paul concludes with these telling words:

“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be

made perfect.”33

Therefore although they had a faith which pleased God they required the Christ who

would appear in the New Testament age to be made complete. In the ceremonies of

Leviticus we observe an incomplete faith but with the light of Christ these rites are

complete for us. Therefore we have the privilege of seeing more of redemption in the

offering and feasts than the ancient Jew enjoyed. In introducing his Epistle to the

Hebrews Paul plainly stated this important principle:

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers

by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath

appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”34

33

Hebrews 11:39-40

54

Revelation, in ancient times, was incomplete because God spoke through prophets but

now we enjoy the revelation of Christ through Christ. Therefore under the New

Covenant the rites of Leviticus become complete. Therefore the reasons for studying

this Book, known by the Jews as the Law of the Priests, are accentuated.

The twelfth and final consideration I would like to introduce as we come to study

Leviticus is that we must not seek New Testament authority for the interpretation of

each Old Testament type. The Bible furnishes us with the general interpretation but it

is for the student to apply that general meaning to the particular type in question. The

truth is found in the scriptures but we must enquire and search for that truth using the

powers of reasoning and logic gifted to us and set part by the regenerating and the

infilling of the Spirit of God. An obvious parallel is found in the doctrine of the

trinity. Opponents of this truth deride it by claiming the word “Trinity” is not found

in the Bible. This of course is true but it is also equally true that by comparing

scripture with scripture we discover that there are three distinct persons in the

Godhead who are equal in power and glory. Likewise by careful and patient effort we

will discover scriptural warrant for the interpretation of each type even though there is

no specific meaning ascribed to each individual ceremony in the New Testament. The

general principles for unfolding the rites of Leviticus are found undoubtedly in the

Epistle to the Hebrews.

The High Priest constantly reveals Jesus Christ our Great High Priest.35

Therefore as

we view Aaron transacting his sacred duties we view various facets of our Saviour’s

work as the Great High Priest. Precisely which aspect of Christ’s ministry is before

34

Hebrews 1:1-2

35 Hebrews 3:1, 4:14-16, 7:24-28, 8:1-2.

55

us will depend upon the specific teaching within the context of each type. The

tabernacle teaches us concerning the work of God in procuring redemption for us.36

Various aspects of the tabernacle worship show us redemption from differing

standpoints. For example when the High Priest enters the Holy Place we see Christ

entering heaven and making intercession for us. Other hand we must deduce that

when Aaron sacrificed beasts upon the Brazen Altar we witness the Lord dying

publicly on Calvary. It is clear that the offering up of the beasts reveals Christ

sacrificing himself on the cross and the blood of those animals is a representation of

his precious blood.37

Furthermore, we must constantly remember that the High Priest

was the representative of Israel and as he laboured, God saw the Jewish people in him.

If he was accepted they were accepted and as he offered sacrifices they offered

sacrifices. The unity we enjoy with Christ is central to New Testament Christianity.

This is stated no more clearly than in Paul’s words to the Galatians:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and

the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved

me, and gave himself for me.”38

As we come to examine these rites we see not only Christ and our redemption but we

also witness our essential unity to the Lord within his body. This in itself is food and

drink for the weary Christian traveller who makes his way to the celestial city; after

all, our Lord said, “Without me ye can do nothing.”39

36

Hebrews 9:1-11 37

Hebrews 9:12-14 38

Galatians 2:20 39

John 15:5

56

CHAPTER 3

THE BURNT OFFERING

Leviticus 1:2-17

I have already stated that in the five offerings we recognise various aspects of the

believer’s devotion to Christ. As the Burnt Offering comes first it is logical therefore

to conclude that in this rite we observe the basic step in the Christian’s devotion to the

Lord. This is indeed the case because through this sacrifice we will consider faith in

Christ. Faith is the primary expression of love, which is manifested first of all, in the

penitent cry for mercy from the lips of the newborn babe in Christ. Faith is the

fundamental reason why the children of the Lord persevere in prayer and godly living,

sometimes in the face of tremendous adversity. The Christian life is best summed up

by the use of this one word, which comprehends the totality of the believer’s

experience. This, the first step which the child of God takes also explains every other

step he will ever take in the pathway which winds upward to the city of light. The

vitality of faith as an essential prerequisite in the devotion of God’s people was

beautifully set forth by Saint Paul as he prayed for the believers as Ephesus:

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in

love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and

depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.”1

1 Ephesians 3:17-19

57

The Holy Ghost in this instance takes our minds to the love of Christ as he inspires

Paul to write of the dynamics of faith. In viewing the blood and gore of the burnt

offering our minds will be filled with the one who loved us as he bore our sins by

offering himself as the perfect sacrifice.

It is important to remember as we consider not only the Burnt Offering but also the

Meat and Peace Offerings, that these three belong together. All three formed part of

the daily sacrifice, which was presented at the Brazen Altar twice daily, in the

morning and the evening. The Sin and Trespass Offerings, on the other hand, were

presented on certain occasions as defined by God. The three lessons that we will

draw from the daily sacrifice will focus our minds on three aspects of Christian

devotion, which are interdependent. At the Burnt Offering we will exercise faith, in

the Meat Offering we shall follow the Lord and through the Peace Offering we will

fellowship with him. As the Peace Offering and the Meat Offering over laid the Burnt

Offering so our following Christ and our fellowship with the Lord are consequences

of our faith. If there is no faith we will have no one to follow and if we are not

following there will be no fellowship. The devotional experiences taught in the daily

sacrifice are so interlinked that to be without one is to be without meaningful

Christianity. Those who know the Lord ought to be constantly seeking the will of

God for their lives. The Christian life is ever striving to know more of the ways of

God in order that there would be conformity to the Lord Jesus. Here in the annals of

Old Testament history God presents to his people in every age the full complement of

Christianity. What does the Lord my Saviour require of me? That I may exercise

faith, that I might follow on to live for him and that I might enjoy fellowship with him

through the Holy Ghost. As these three sacrifices were offered twice daily so these

58

aspects of devotion should be every present in my life and in the lives of every

professor if we are to know God’s blessing upon our witness. Let us now think about

the first rung of the ladder, the first stone in the building and the first step on the road

to heaven; the Burnt Offering depicting our faith in Christ.

Firstly, I wish to examine the price of the Burnt Offering. There were three kinds of

animals which were permitted as sacrifices for this rite; bullocks, sheep or goats and

turtledoves or young pigeons. The obvious reason for this is that all classes of people

might be accommodated. The rich could afford to take from the herd, the middle

classes were able to take from the flock but the poor who owned no beast were not

denied access to the blessings of the offering because Jehovah in grace was willing to

accept a simple fowl. While the beasts as a means of access have disappeared, the

Lord remains as the one who provides redemption to people from all classes whether

rich or poor. The church needs to remember this fact in its fellowship and outreach.

In this affluent age as churches have become richer they must never give the

impression that they are associated with a certain social class. Those with lesser

means ought not to be despised and should be as able to gain office in the church as

the rich, if they possess the spiritual qualifications. Certainly the church should be

equally welcoming to all regardless of their career, education and social standing

because the church ought to have the spirit of the one who permitted the bullock, the

sheep and the pigeon to be used to worship.

While three different kinds of animals could be employed, all three had common

denominators. The bullock and the sheep or goats had to be male. Andrew Bonar in

his inspirational work on Leviticus said that these beasts were male “representing the

59

second Adam”.2 Although Eve first ate the forbidden fruit culpability rested with

Adam as the head of the woman. Therefore Original Sin, in the scriptures, is

consistently referred to as Adam’s transgression. It is perfectly logical, then that the

redeemer of men must be a man if the one who fell was also a man.

These beasts had also to be males “without blemish”. The animals selected were the

choice of the flock. The same concept is in view where the young pigeon or the

turtledove is concerned; it was to be a young bird. It was no small act for the Jew to

present these creatures as they represented considerable worth. We must remember

that in Bible lands meat was not eaten with the regularity that it is today. The

scriptures would indicate that the killing of the fatted calf was reserved for special

occasions as in the case of the Prodigal’s return. When God offered his Son on

Calvary he sacrificed the best and the purest that heaven had to offer. We must never

underestimate the cost that was involved when God the Father offered his only

begotten Son for our salvation; “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up

for us all, how he shall not with him also freely give us all things”.3

The choice of the particular beasts is also full of instruction where the person of Christ

is concerned. The bullock as the creature of service reveals the Saviour who was

constant in his devotion to the Father’s will; “I must work the works of him that sent

me: while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”4 Andrew Jukes

believed that this was the view of Christ that the saints neglected most:

2 Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 13.

3 Romans 8:32

4 John 9:4

60

“Comparatively few, I believe, see Christ in the first class,-the patient unwearied

labourer for others. The lamb, the goat, the turtledove are all more familiar symbols.

The fact is, we need to be ourselves in service, and to know practically something of

its toil and trial, before we can at all rightly estimate the aspect of Christ’s offering

which is presented in the emblem of the bullock. The Gospel’s, however, are full of

this view of the Burnt Offering: in fact, one whole Gospel is specially devoted to it.

In Mark, Jesus is not brought before us as in the other Gospels, either as the Son of

Abraham, Son of Adam, or Son of God; He stands rather,-as another has observed,-

the patient, untiring labourer for others. In Mark, turn where we will, we will, we see

Jesus always ‘the girded servant’; always at the disposal of others, to spend and to be

spent at his bidding. Thus when, after days of ceaseless labour, He retires alone for

prayer or rest with His disciples, no sooner do the multitude disturb Him than He at

once goes with them, or rises to minister to their need (Mark 1:35-38, 6:30-45). So

entirely does He give Himself to His work that ‘he had no leisure so much as to eat’

(Mark 3:20, 6:31); but He had meat to eat which the world saw not: ‘His meat was to

do His Father’s will’ (John 4:31-34). And oh, what touches of grace are there in all

His service! He not only cures the blind, but ‘He takes him by the hand’ (Mark 8:23).

He not only raises the dead: His mission in that house ends not till with careful

foresight, ‘He commands them to give her meat’ (Mark 5:43). Blessed Lord, show us

more of Thy footsteps, that, while we rejoice in Thy work, we may learn to follow

Thee.”5

The lamb conveys the thought of passive submission, which was a prominent

characteristic of Christ’s passion; “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and a sheep

5 The Law of the Offerings, Jukes, Andrew, Kregel Publications, 1966. Page 69-70.

61

before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”5 The dove is characterised

by innocence because our Lord himself said, “Be harmless as doves”.6 Our Saviour is

described as “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners…”.7 Again, Jukes

brought these three classes of creature together with the comment:

“Here then, are some of the measures of apprehension with which the sacrifice of

Jesus as Burnt-Offering may be regarded; for a saint may see either His devoted

labour, His uncomplaining submission, or His mourning innocence. All these are

equally true, all equally precious, all equally acceptable…”

It is intriguing that of all the beasts offered, only the lamb was to be sacrificed at the

north side of the Brazen Altar. John Gill, that notable expert of Jewish writings and

customs, conjectures:

“Aben Ezra intimates, as if some respect was had to the situation of Mount Zion; his

note is, ‘on the side of the altar northward’, i.e. without, and so "the sides of the

north", Psa_48:2 for so many mistake who say that the tower of Zion was in the midst

of Jerusalem; and with this agrees Mr. Ainsworth's note on Lev_6:25 hereby was

figured, that Christ our sin offering should be killed by the priests in Jerusalem, and

Mount Sion, which was on ‘the sides of the north’, Psa_48:2 crucified on Mount

Calvary, which was on the northwest side of Jerusalem; as by the Jews' tradition, the

morning sacrifice was killed at the northwest horn of the altar”9.

6 Isaiah 53:7

7 Matthew 10:16

8 Hebrews 7:26

9 Esword Commentary, downloaded from esword.net.

62

Certainly the lamb more than any other beast reveals the person of Christ. Therefore

it is appropriate that this animal should be offered in a special place full of particular

symbolism. There is an implication here, however, that there was little relevance as to

which side of the altar the other beasts were to be sacrificed. The passage bears this

out by not specifying in which direction the bullocks or the turtledoves were to be

slain. Bonar beautifully drew the gospel parallel:

“... A variety like this answered the purpose of proclaiming that Jesus is offered to any

soul in any nation…In other words, from east to west, north to south, His death is

presented to the view of all, to be believed by men as soon as they see it.”10

The directions of the compass are deeply symbolic in scriptures of the reach of God’s

grace to all the peoples of the world. Our Saviour himself stated, “And they shall

come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and

shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”11

When John beheld his glorious vision of the

New Jerusalem, among other things, the city had twelve gates open constantly and

facing north, south, east and west.12

In the day of grace the Church has open doors

embracing those from every nation, language and colour. Therefore from the location

where the lamb was sacrificed we see the Saviour’s death for people from every part

of the world.

Secondly, I wish to discuss the participation in the Burnt Offering. It is clear that the

one who brought the offering was personally engaged in the sacrifice of the beast.

10

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 23. 11

Luke 13:29 12

Revelation 21:13,25.

63

The individual Jew was personally involved in the killing of the beast; it was his

sacrifice.

The Israelite could present his Burnt Offering “of his own voluntary will at the door

of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD”. This phrase draws our

attention to the offerer’s choice to become engaged in this offering. We are then told

that “he (the offerer) shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering”. Prior to

the slaying of the beast the Israelite identified himself in a most tangible fashion to the

sacrifice. Keil and Delitsch record regarding the force of the Hebrew verb in this

place; “The laying on of hands, by which, to judge from the verb סמך to lean upon, we

are to understand a forcible pressure of the hand upon the head of the victim.”13

The

offerer then progressed to kill the beast himself intensifying his interest in the rite.

Where private ceremonies were concerned this was the general rule whereas in

national ceremonies the slaughter was carried out by the priests. After the killing was

complete the worshipper was required to “flay the burnt offering and cut it into his

pieces”, leaving “a mangled mass of flesh and bones”.14

There is a clear picture

unfolding here of sinful man resting his hand of faith upon the Son of God.

My faith would lay her hand

On that dear head of Thine,

While like a penitent I stand,

And there confess my sin.

13

Esword Commentary, downloaded from esword.net. 14

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 18.

64

Isaac Watts, 1674-174815

Our personal identification with the agonies of Christ is a fact which must be kept

close to our hearts. As the beast was slaughtered and dismembered in a most violent

fashion by the worshipper so Christ suffered cruelly on account of our personal sins.

The Israelite was undoubtedly drenched with the blood and his garments must have

been putrid after performing a ceremony, which to the modern westerner would have

been shocking. There was no mistaking the fact, however, that the offering and the

offerer were one. In the same light let us by faith recognise our oneness with Christ

as he sacrificed himself for us.

This union of the sinner with the sufferings of the Lord are brought into focus again

with the offering of the fowl. Although the turtledove and young pigeon were

sacrificed by the priest the Jew who brought the bird watched it die. The picture again

is violent with the priest wringing off its head. It is striking the bird was to be cleaved

by with the wings, yet it was not to be divided asunder. Bonar records that “ ‘The

Cleaving’ implies such a separation as is not complete. It is only dislocation but not

disruption of the parts…”16

The dead bird was lifted up by its wings and with strong

hands it was wrenched until its bones were torn form their sockets, yet the bird

remained intact. A bird with dislocated wings is a picture of weakness. The great

Messianic words of the Psalmist record of Christ’s sufferings in the first person:

“1 am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint…”17

15


of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No. 96. 16


Psalm 22:14

65

Therefore from the offering of the fowl we obtain a different perspective of Christ’s

agonies on our behalf, yet taken together the three present a complete representation.

Something the sacrifices of the bullock, sheep and fowl have in common, however, is

that we see not only suffering but also purity. It was the responsibility of the offerer

to wash the inner organs and the legs of the bullock and the sheep before the sacrifice

was handed over to the priest. This emphasises Christ’s absolute purity both mentally

and physically. His heart and soul were not soiled in any way and his outer life was

absolutely beyond reproach. The same picture is evident from the removal of the

bird’s crop before the offering could occur. This part of the fowl’s anatomy is linked

to the stomach and is therefore associated with the appetite. The Lord Jesus Christ, as

the perfect man, had no fleshly desires and his mind was not enticed by the sensual

appetites that characterise fallen man. This emphasises the nature of the sacrifice

required of by God if full atonement was to be made. As it was necessary that the

substitute be human it was equally necessary that he be pure and the Lord certainly

fulfilled this criteria; “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless,

undefiled, separate from sinners...”.18

It was, however, insufficient for the offerer to approach the tabernacle and slay his

offering at the door of the tabernacle, alone. To act in such a way would have been

totally futile. He required the assistance of the priest in order that his offering be

efficacious. The priest accepted the sacrifice, collected the blood for sprinkling upon

the altar and set the parts of the carcase upon the Brazen Altar. In like manner faith

alone does not save. By it’s very essence it is impossible for faith by itself to

18

Hebrews 7:26

66

accomplish anything. It is not faith which saves but it is one upon whom faith rests

who supplies redemption. Faith is the total surrender of one’s self to another. As the

offerer approached the Brazen Altar depending upon the priest the child of God today

rests upon Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. He is the sole object of our faith:

On thee my heart is resting!

Ah, this is rest indeed!

What else, almighty Saviour,

Can a poor sinner need?

Thy light is all my wisdom,

Thy love is all my stay;

Our Father’s home in glory

Draws nearer every day.

My guilt is great, but greater

The mercy dost thou give,

Thyself, a spotless offering,

Hast died that I should live.

With thee, my soul unfettered,

Has risen from the dust;

Thy blood is all my treasure,

Thy word is all my trust.

67

Theodore Monod, 1836-1921”19

The priestly assistance enjoyed by the ancient worshipper also typifies our need of a

mediator to stand betwixt God and ourselves. As we approach by faith in the public

and private exercises of worship we must ever remind be reminded of the value of

Christ who constantly accepts us; “…without me ye can do nothing”.20

Before leaving the worshipper’s personal participation in the sacrifice behind it is

important that we grasp the solemn contrast between this sacrifice and the Sin and

Trespass offerings. Those two sacrifices, as we see in later chapters, were called for

to atone for individual and personal breeches of God’s law. In the Burnt Offering,

however, nothing is said of the worshippers guilt on account of individual

wrongdoing. In the eyes of man he was moral and guiltless but in God’s sight he still

required expiation. Professor Fairbairn beautifully applied this element of the Burnt

Offering to the modern Christian:

But the guilt for which atonement here required to be made , was not that properly of

special and formal acts of transgression, but rather of those shortcomings which

imperfections which perpetually cleave to the servant of God, and mingle even with

his best services. Along, however, with this sense of unworthiness and sin, which

enters as an abiding element into the state of his mind, there is invariably coupled,

especially in his exercises of devotion, a surrender and consecration of his person and

powers to the service of God. While he is conscious of and laments the deficiencies

of the past, he cannot but desire to manifest a spirit of more complete devotedness in

19


of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No. 476. 20

John 15:5

68

time to come. And it was to express this complicated state of feeling, to which the

whole and every individual of the covenant people should have been continually

exercising themselves, that the service of the burnt-offering was appointed.”21

There is more than a sense here that on a daily basis every true child of God needs to

offer his burnt sacrifice by kneeling at the foot of Calvary leaning upon the blessed

Saviour by faith and mourning over his sins in so doing. This is the true spirit of

devotion as practiced by the life of faith.

It is the third place I wish to discuss the purpose of the Burnt offering. There are

three telling phrases in Leviticus Chapter One which taken together highlight the

supreme reason for this sacrifice.

In the fourth verse the record uses the phrase “it shall be accepted for him”. In the

wilderness Israel was ever on the verge of facing God’s judicial wrath because of their

sin. Prior to the nation receiving these ordinances three thousand were executed by

the sons of Levi because of their worshipping the golden calves while Moses was on

the slopes of Sinai hearing the commandments of Jehovah. Without the faithful

intercession of Moses on that occasion it seemed as if God was going to destroy the

entire Israelite race. Therefore when it seemed as if their sins had created an

unbridgeable chasm between themselves and Jehovah this offering was instituted to

show how there could be acceptance. In later years as the wilderness sojourn

continued the people would have to think often upon the grace in this offering as they

21

The Typology of Scripture Volume Two, Fairbairn, Patrick, Glasgow,


69

suffered for their sins. Even after the rebellion at Kadesh Barnbea which condemned

an entire generation to death in the wilderness the people still had the Tabernacle, the

Brazen Altar, the Priesthood and the Burnt Offering teaching them that God in mercy

would accept them if they came in faith. Here we behold the glory of the gospel.

Man is a creature under the sentence of God’s wrath but there remains a bridge

promising acceptance with the Creator. The need facing men today remains no

different than in the times of Moses. Our sins have separated us from God and we

must have acceptance. Sinful man can be received into the number of God’s children

through faith in Jesus Christ.

The second phrase is also found in the fourth verse and elaborates upon the theme of

acceptance, “to make atonement for him”. If acceptance with God is the effect then

atonement is the cause. The worshipper gained the favour of the Almighty because

atonement had been procured. This phrase takes us further into the heart and soul of

the gospel because without atonement there is no justification, adoption or

sanctification. Atonement is a gospel word and a Biblical word. It is a term with

which every believer should be most familiar with because upon it hangs the salvation

of the soul. The word translated “atonement” in our Authorised Version is the

Hebrew term “kaphar” meaning, “to cover”. It is a word intrinsic to the whole

concept of sacrifice in ancient times. Man before was a wretched sinner, therefore he

needed his sins covered if he was to be accepted. God as a just being could not turn a

blind eye to the transgressions of his people. To do this would have been a

miscarriage of justice and Jehovah as a just judge must act in a proper manner. It was

necessary that sin be put away in such a way that it was judicially covered. Therefore

the sacrifice represented the punishing of sin upon the body of the beast and as a

70

result of the offering, man was accepted as a creature atoned for. In this New

Testament age we enjoy the blessings, which Israel received merely by type. Those

who have received the merits of Christ’s death enjoy the covering of his precious

blood, which legally blots out all our transgressions from Jehovah’s gaze. This is

what Paul intended when writing to the Hebrews, “And their sins and iniquities will I

remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for

sin”.”22

The word “remission” here is in the Greek is “aphesis” which means “to

dismiss” or “to release”. God literally has forgot about the sins of his people because

he has released them from its curse and bondage. In an earlier place the apostle had

already taught the Hebrews what the ground of this remission was, ““And almost all

things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no

remission.” 23

We are brought back therefore to the theme of sacrifice and to the same

concept found in the word atonement. Our sins have been covered and the precious

blood of the Saviour therefore has released us. Paul refers to the perfection of

Christ’s offering here by stating that all other offerings for sin have been abolished

and are now unnecessary. A finished work was completed at the cross, which

fulfilled the ancient types and rendered them obsolete.

Interestingly the English word “atonement” appears only once in the New Testament

(although the concept appears on numerous occasions) but where it is employed the

context makes it most significant. Writing to the Romans Paul wrote the following

passage:

22

Hebrews 10:17-18 23

Hebrews 9:22

71

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For

scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some

would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we

were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his

blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we

were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we

shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord

Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”24

Here the apostle is quite clearly expounding the benefits that flow to us from the death

of Christ, the great antitype of the Levitical offerings. After writing elegantly of

God’s love, of Christ’s death, of being justified by his blood Paul proceeds to describe

the joy we possess in Christ “by whom we have now received the atonement”. The

Greek word employed in this instance is “katallage” which means restoration or

reconciliation. Christ’s blood shedding restores man to a correct relationship with

God and reconciles him with his Creator. This reconciliation can only be possible

after the sins of man have been judicially punished and Christ of course has

accomplished this at Calvary. The passage quoted refers to the people for whom

Christ died as being ungodly and, perhaps more pertinently, the enemies of God. This

corresponds with the Israelites being under the pale of God’s wrath constantly, with

reminders of the justice of the Almighty visiting them regularly. Yet where God is

full of wrath there is also a heart of grace extending mercy to his fallen creatures. To

Israel this grace was evident initially in the Burnt Offering, to the New Testament

believers this grace super abounds in the sacrifice of Christ and the shedding of his

24

Romans 5:6-11

72

blood. The reference to the blood of the Saviour is important because this supplies

the covering and places man in the appropriate position with Jehovah. This is a vital

New Testament truth as both John and Peter taught:

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver

and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But

with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”25

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,

and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have

no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is

faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”26

Much more could be written upon this the most blessed of all themes but we will

leave the doctrine of the atonement for now as we progress to the third phrase, which

brings out the purpose of the Burnt Offering as it is found in the ninth verse; “an

offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord”. While the other offerings

which formed a part of the daily sacrifice (the Meat and Peace Offerings) were

received by God as sweet savours the Burnt Offering was unique in that the whole

sacrifice was burned upon the altar producing the incense of acceptance. Patrick

Fairbairn wrote perceptively on this issue:

25

1Peter 1:18-19 26

1John 1:7-9

73

“The name given in scripture to this species of sacrifice is olah, an ascension, so

called from the whole being consumed and going up in a flame to the Lord. It

received also the name kalil, the whole, with reference to the entire consumption, and

possibly not without respect to its general and comprehensive character.”27

Christ’s sacrifice was acceptable to God because it was total. He offered his whole

being, both body and spirit, and was totally consumed by the wrath of God because he

bore the full weight of our transgressions. There are two incomprehensible New

Testament texts which unfold this sacred truth. Paul writing to the Corinthians said of

Christ, “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin..”28

. This is gospel

truth yet it is mysterious truth. Christ was the pure one yet he was made sin, the sin of

course being the elect of God. Then writing to the Galatians Paul outlined equally

mysteriously the effects of our Lord becoming sin for us, “Christ hath redeemed us

from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is

everyone that hangeth on a tree”.29

The one text explains the other. On account of his

whole nature receiving the guilt of our sin Christ was utterly cursed by his Father

during the three hours of unnatural darkness. These truths ought to fill every true

believer with both tears and triumph. Tears because of the depths Christ plumbed and

triumph because we are secure in the love of one who accomplished the

incomprehensible, to bring us to God. Only a total offering could produce the sweet

savour, which was pleasing to Jehovah. Therefore Isaiah could prophesy, “It pleased

the Lord to bruise him”.29

Jehovah was pleased to offer his one and only Son because

27




Galatians 3:13

29

Isaiah 53:10

74

there was a sweet savour rising from Calvary, which was the redemption

accomplished for men. In the cross the Father saw the fulfilment of his desire to

restore fallen man to a position of favour and in this he is glorified above all else. On

this point Keil and Delitzsch commented:

…all expiation has its ultimate foundation in the grace of God, which desires not the

death of the sinner, but his redemption and salvation, and to this end has opened a

way of salvation, and sanctified sacrifice as the means of expiation and mercy;…30

In the fourth place I wish to make some brief comments upon the periods for the

Burnt Offering. It appears in the Word of God that there were three significant

occasions when this form of sacrifice was presented.

As I have already stated this sacrifice was presented twice daily. Is there not the

thought here that the believer should be found in private worship at least twice each

day committing himself to Christ in faith? The ritual of the Burnt Offering has passed

away with the rent veil but the spirit of the worshipper remains with “quiet time”

which is fundamental to a blessed and victorious life. As those who possess the great

antitype there ought to be more love, more reality and more victory than any Old

Testament saint ever enjoyed. To our shame we must confess that we fail miserably

because we do not seize upon the blessings that is ours in Christ.

It appears also that this particular form of sacrifice was presented during set times of

devotion and commitment to the Lord. A striking example of this is Abraham who

30

Commentary On The Old Testament, Keil C.F. &. Delitzsch, F, Electronic Edition, The Master

Christian Library Version 8, Ages Software

75

prepared to offer Isaac as a Burnt Offering upon an altar in Mount Moriah in

obedience to the call of God.31

It is true that this act of faith is a glorious prefiguring

of the cross but it is also an act of dedication and consecration to the Lord on

Abraham’s part. Perhaps this was the greatest example of consecration to be found

anywhere in God’s word because nowhere else was a believer asked to yield so much.

As Abraham surrendered the son of his old age and the seal of God’s covenant he

prepared the wood for the Burnt Offering. Faith in Christ is certainly about the

emptying of one’s self as the soul consecrates itself to God. Allowing Calvary love to

fill the heart is to confess that nothing is important save Jesus Christ and him

crucified. Dr James Mountgomery Boice quoting Watchman Nee wrote that Isaac

“represents many gifts of God’s grace. Before God gives them our hands are empty.

Afterwards they are full. Sometimes God reaches out his hand to take ours in

fellowship. Then we need an empty hand to put into his. But when we have received

his gifts and are nursing them to ourselves, our hands are full, and when God puts out

his hand we have no empty hand for him.”32

We are guilty of claiming everything

even the gifts of God for ourselves as if the Lord has no right to remove them.

Believers claim their health, parents claim their children, couples claim their

possessions and ministers even claim their ministry with sense of jealousy. We need

to understand that God gives his gifts that we might glorify him through them not for

our own self-gratification. These blessings will only be truly useful when we

surrender them to God and in so doing utilise them for his honour. This can only be

achieved at the cross as we fill ourselves with the love of God in Christ.

31

Genesis 22 32

Genesis An Expositional Commentary, Volume 2, Boice, James Mountgomery,

Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michegan, 1985. Page 219.

76

The final example of the use of the Burnt Offering in scripture is found in the Fifty

First Psalm. This passage contains the prayer that David offered to God after his

adultery. What is significant here, however, is the timing of the sacrifice. It was only

after he displayed brokenness of heart that he proceeded to present his offering. It is

not enough for the Christian who sins to ask God for forgiveness. There must be a

humbling and a crying unto God and only then can the transgressor have the

assurance that Christ’s blood has given him rest. Too many modern believers

consider themselves to have been forgiven when they have never fully cried as the

penitent. As repentance accompanies salvation in the life of the unbeliever,

repentance must also accompany restoration in the life of the backslider. There is

certainly power in the blood for the penitent but not for the careless and indifferent.

77

CHAPTER FOUR

THE MEAT OFFERING

Leviticus Two

The Meat Offering was so called because in medieval times the word meat was used

interchangeably with food. Therefore the translators of the Authorised Version

employed the word “meat” in common with the age in which they lived. An example

of this is found in the words spoken by the Lord to Adam in the Book of Beginnings:

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the

face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to

you it shall be for meat.”1

It is clear from this reference that fruit and herbs are called “meat” within the context

of being food as opposed to being flesh. This therefore explains the title of the

sacrifice because grain was the substance generally offered. While this sacrifice may

quite justifiably be called the Grain Offering or even the Food Offering I will employ

the title Meat Offering in keeping with the Authorised Version.

As these five sacrifices lead us step by step along the believer’s life of devotion we

will find ourselves progressing from Faith in Christ at the Burnt Sacrifice to

Following after Christ in the Meat Offering. This chapter will focus primarily upon

1 Genesis 1:29

78

the Meat Offering, which was presented as part of the daily sacrifice. There were

other Meat Offerings, however, which were presented at the Passover and Pentecost

that were known as The Feast of the Fruit Fruits. These will be examined when we

come to examine these feasts in later chapters. This chapter relates principally to the

Meat Offering, which was never presented alone but always lay on the altar with

Burnt and Peace Offerings as Professor Fairbairn points out:

The ordinary employment of the meat-offering was in connection with the burnt and

peace-offerings, which were always to have it as a necessary and proper supplement.2

Jehovah here is clearly teaching us that those who have exercised faith in Christ will

want to give themselves to such a glorious Saviour by following in his steps. Let us

now consider how the various parts of the offering illustrate this particular theme.

In the first place I wish to examine the meaning of the Meat Offering. The primary

emphasis of this sacrifice is that the Jew brought into the presence of Jehovah what

his own hands had produced. After the sowing, irrigating and harvesting he gathered

a portion of his labours together for the glory of God. This therefore makes the

meaning abundantly clear. After trusting the Lord by faith we have an obligation to

yield our bodies to Christ as a living sacrifice.3 The works of men are unacceptable to

God where salvation is concerned but they are a most vital expression of Christianity

post conversion. This compelled James to write the often-neglected words, “Faith

without works is dead”.4

2 The Typology of Scripture Volume Two, Fairbairn, Patrick, Glasgow,

T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 358. 3 Romans 12:1

4 James 2:20

79

Taken together the Burnt and Meat Offerings represent the manner of God’s dealings

with men, as they are also represented in the Moral Law. The first four

commandments set forth the duty of man to God, which should be our primary

burden. In the Burnt Offering we viewed the Saviour who fulfilled our duty to God

by bearing our guilt and suffering our punishment. Saving faith rests upon Christ as

the one who met God’s terms for us. The following six commandments, however,

exhibit the duty of care God expects of us where our fellow man is concerned. The

outcome of surrendering self to God is that our lives become a blessing to others.

Those believers who are endowed with beautiful Christ like lives naturally reach out

in love to their fellow in spiritual and material ways. The great social reformers such

as Wilberforce and Shaftsbury and the pioneer missionaries such as Carey and

Livingstone are notable examples of the Meat Offering being lived out in modern

times. Leaving these prominent names aside, however, there ought not to be a

believer, whether in public or private life, whether in foreign lands or home service,

who does not manifest to some degree the theme of this offering because following

after the Lord is the outward token of inward grace.

There are an abundance of references that refer either by name or by implication to

the Meat Offering as being the great type of the believer’s service for the Lord. David

for example said, “Let my prayer be set before thee as incense; and the lifting up of

my hands as the evening sacrifice.”5 The word “sacrifice” in this text is the Hebrew

word “minchah” which is the same word used in Leviticus Chapter Two for Meat

Offering. Therefore the Jewish reader would automatically observe that as he prayers

his hands must be associated with the Meat Offering. As the hands represent our

5 Psalm 141:2

80

works in scripture, the Lord is instructing us concerning the value of having a clean

testimony before men, if our prayers are to be acceptable to God. In Malachi the Holy

Spirit prophetically refers to this New Testament age when the Meat Offering would

be offered in type and not in reality:

“For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall

be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my

name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the

LORD of hosts.”6

Here the worshipper is not the Jew but the Gentile peoples who would present this

offering not in the tabernacle or the temple but in every place. In this age where the

church is the temple the Gentiles peoples bring their Meat Offering by bringing their

lives before the Lord in obedient service. The Apostle Paul highlights this theme

when he describes the gift which the Philippian church sent to him as being like

ancient offering, “But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of

Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a

sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.”7 Practical tithes and offering to the work

of the Lord are therefore offerings which correspond to the “sweet savour” of the

Meat Offering. Paul used the same metaphor when challenging the Hebrew believers

to good works; “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such

sacrifices God is well pleased.”8

6 Malachi 1:10-11

7 Philippians 4:18

8 Hebrews 13:16

81

In the second place let us now progress to the presentation of the Meat Offering.

There were four ways in which this sacrifice could be legitimately presented. In the

first instance the offerer could bring fine flour to the priest (verse one). The fourth

verse, furthermore instructs, the people regarding the preparation of the offering in the

oven. In this case either fine flour or unleavened wafers (cakes) could be baked at

home with the finished product brought to the tabernacle. A third instruction is given

in verse five that the individual fry his fine flour in a pan before approaching the

priest. Finally in the seventh verse the frying could be done in what the Authorised

Version calls “a frying pan”. The Hebrew word employed here is most interesting as

Andrew Bonar points out:

“The shallow frying pan (a shallow vessel of earth, used to this day by the Arabs, and

called Tagen) indicated poverty, if the man had this and no other culinary utensil. It

was used in boiling and was therefore indispensable.”9

Dr Bonar was quite clear as to the reason for these alternatives and the obvious

application for the modern Christian:

“If he be rich, let him bring his fine flour from the finest of the wheat. If he be not

able to do this, let him being a meat offering baken in the oven…The oven was a

utensil which was generally possessed by all in the middle ranks of life…If he cannot

afford this, having no oven, then let him bring somewhat baken in the fire-plate or

pan. If even this is not in his power, he at least possess a frying-pan and let him bring


82

what it prepares. God excuses none, of whatever rank, from dedicating themselves

and their substance to him…”10

All believers therefore have a solemn responsibility to yield themselves to God. The

Lord never measures us according to our wealth or our ability but rather he is

interested in our consecration. One believer might be like the widow with her mite

while another might have the means like Mary to offer the box of spikenard but all are

equally pleasing to God.

The third instance I wish to look at the substances used in the Meat Offering. In

looking at these ingredients our attention will turn to the person of the Saviour. Mr

MacIntosh succinctly introduced his chapter on this sacrifice with the remarks:

“We come now, to consider the meat offering which presents, in a very distinct

manner, ‘the Man Christ Jesus’. As the burnt offering typifies Christ in death, the

meat offering typifies Him in life….in the meat offering, there was not even a

question of bloodshedding. We simply find, in it, a beauteous type of Christ, as He

lived and walked, down here, on this earth.”11

If the Lord fulfilled our duty to God at the cross then he fulfilled our duty to man in

his thirty-three years of spotless living. It is possible for the believer to offer himself

to God and be a blessing to others because Christ has accomplished this on our behalf.

This becomes evident as we observe the ingredients employed in the Meat Offering.

10


Notes on the Leviticus, .MacIntosh, C.H., Second Edition Revised,

George Morrish, 24 Warwick Lane, London, page 28.

83

Flour was the core element in the sacrifice. This was a substance produced as the

result of reaping, threshing and grinding. The Lord was one who literally ground

himself down serving others without regard for his own physical well being. While

his gaze was constantly fixed upon Calvary he was well aware that the path to death

involved a lifetime of selfless dedication to the needs of fallen humanity. Therefore

he testified, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night

cometh, when no man can work.”12

There is repeated emphasis in Leviticus Chapter

Two, however, upon the fine flour, which was employed. Fine flour was so called

because it was even and devoid of lumps. The Saviour’s life was perfect in that it was

devoid of inconsistencies. No amount of pressure or unwelcome circumstances ever

brought out as we might say, the worst in him, because he did not have a flawed side

to his character. While Thomas doubted after the horrors of Golgotha, while James

and John became angry with those who rejected their Lord and while Peter denied

Christ under severe pressure the Saviour of men remained constant and unchanged. It

was Peter, when possibly contrasting his Lord with himself, who penned the

following description of Christ consistent life holding up under duress:

For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently?

but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with

God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving

us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile

found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered,

he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:13

12

John 9:4 13

1 Peter 2:20-23

84

Peter employed these words with clear reference to the duty of believer to be

consistent and to follow the pattern set forth by the Christ of God.

Oil was a second ingredient used in the preparation of this sacrifice. Once again I

refer to MacIntosh who drew a parallel between the two-fold application of the oil to

the meal and the Lord’s conception and life:

“The ‘oil’ in the meat offering, is a type of the Holy Ghost. But, inasmuch as the oil

is employed in a two-fold way, so we have the Holy Ghost presented in a double

aspect, in connexion with the incarnation of the Son. The fine flour was “mingled”

with oil; and there was oil “poured” upon it. Such was the type; and in the Antitype,

we see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, first, “conceived,” and then “anointed” by the

Holy Ghost. (Comp Matt. 1. 18,23 with chapt. 3. 16).”14

The union between the Lord and the Holy Ghost as God incarnate is not overlooked

by the scriptures and is one we ought to be aware of. In John there is the record that

“God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”15

As the one who performed the

flawless life required the energy of the Holy Ghost we must earnestly seek the

fullness of the Spirit if we are sacrifice ourselves as the New Testament Meat

Offering.

A third substance employed in this offering was frankincense. It was this that created

the sweet smell as the grain was consumed upon the altar. Andrew Jukes wrote

elegantly on this ingredient:

14


George Morrish, 24 Warwick Lane, London, page 35. 15

John 3:34

85

“Frankincense is the most precious of perfumes, of enduring and delightful fragrance:

fit emblem of the sweetness and fragrance of the offering of our blessed Lord….In

frankincense the full fragrance is not brought out until the perfume is submitted to the

action of fire….The fire of God’s holiness tried Him, but all was precious fragrance.

The holiness of God only brought out graces which would have escaped our notice

had He never suffered. Yea, much of the precious odour of his suffering was the very

result of his fiery trial.”16

Even in his propitiatory agonising he still performed his duty to man and in so doing

the sweet aroma of loveliness is all the more apparent. What grace as he prayed for

his tormentors, what tenderness as he forgave the dying thief and what thoughtfulness

and entrusted poor Mary into the care of John the beloved. Let us pray that when the

hour of trial comes the genuine nature of our faith will rise as the incense into the

presence of God’s holiness.

One other ingredient used in the preparation of this sacrifice was salt. The scriptures

themselves indicate the meaning of this substance with the words, “…neither shalt

thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat

offering…”.17

Benjamin Keach drew attention to the preserving qualities of salt and

applied that fittingly to the believer in his service for God:

“All meat offerings were to be seasoned with salt, signifying thereby, that as salt

seasoneth, and keepeth from corruption; so Christ seasoneth us, and all our services,

16

The Law of the Offerings, Jukes, Andrew, Kregel Publications, 1966. Page 88. 17

Leviticus 2:13

86

and makes them acceptable to God; and that his grace preserveth us from spiritual

corruption.”18

Andrew Bonar, however, focuses upon the fact that salt “intimates the friendship

…now existing between God and man.”19

Andrew Jukes takes this idea one step

further as he emphasised the use of salt in symbolising the binding nature of covenant

agreements by referring to Numbers20

; “All the heave offerings of the holy things,

which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and

thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before

the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”21

It is certainly true, as Keach stated, that our service can only be free from corruption

through the ministry of Christ. At the core of Christ’s ministry is the covenant

agreement he made with his Father that he would become a mediator for the elect of

God. This is the covenant of which the salt is the emblem. We are preserved in our

labours because Christ fulfilled the terms of the eternal covenant on our behalf.

Before moving away from the substances involved it is appropriate that we notice the

two ingredients, which could not be used, as they are described in verse eleven. The

first of these was leaven, the well-known emblem of sin and corruption. The Apostle

Paul applied a rather forceful lesson to the Church at Corinth from the ancient

prohibition placed upon leaven:

18


Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 990. 19


The Law of the Offerings, Jukes, Andrew, Kregel Publications, 1966. Page 90. 21

Numbers 18:19

87

“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole

lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are

unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep

the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but

with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”22

We must be careful lest we introduce the pride of man and the works of the flesh into

our work for God and where it creeps in there must be a casting out or we lose the

blessing of God. Leaven is the opposite of salt which was mixed with the meal. If the

salt, the purifying agent, represents the faithfulness of Christ then it logically follows

the leaven, the corrupting agent represents an exclusion of the Lord. If we are

labouring for the glory of the Son then we are trifling with the dreaded leaven which

will be to the detriment of the work which we profess to love?

The second banned substance in the Meat Offering was honey. As the leaven and the

salt are in juxtaposition so it is also with the honey and the frankincense.

Frankincense became sweet in the flames whereas the honey fermented. There are

some professors who appear sweet and sincere but when the fires of adversity

overwhelm the bark of life faith it evaporates. Every professor must pray for a deeper

work than the surface sweetness of honey in order that all would be well with our

souls at the last.

In the final instance I wish to say something about the beneficiaries of the Meat

Offering. God derived pleasure from this sacrifice because it “was a sweet savour

22

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

88

unto the LORD”.23

It is most encouraging that God notices what men may never

regard and he praises what man has never rejoiced in. Paul expressed this when

writing to the Hebrews as follows:

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have

shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”24

The second beneficiary of the Meat Offering was the Priesthood. While a handful or

a “memorial” was cast into the fire the remainder was used to feed Aaron and the

priests. The practical lesson here is that as the church together works for God she has

a responsibility to provide for those who minister in a full time capacity. This was

certainly true in ancient times but it was also true in the New Testament church also:

“If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we

have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of

Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things

of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?”25

As the Jew offered his Meat Offering the beneficiaries were God first and the

Priesthood second in that order. There was nothing for the one who presented the

sacrifice. It was entirely a selfless act. This takes us back to the life of Christ because

his obsession was our redemption and the Father’s will. As we model our lives upon

the Lord we must lay aside all desires for human praise and be conformed to the

23

Leviticus 2:2 24

Hebrews 6:10 25

1 Corinthians 5:12-13

89

selfless pattern as manifested in his perfect giving and loving life. Then we will

become the blessing to others that we long to be.

90

CHAPTER FIVE

THE PEACE OFFERING

Leviticus Three

This chapter concerns the Peace Offering, which teaches fellowship with the Lord.

This is the last of the sacrifices, which were presented twice daily. Each of these

rituals offered in the daily sacrifice present us with vital lessons about Christian

living. Our lives as believers commenced with faith in Christ, as typified in the Burnt

Offering, then we proceeded to follow after the Lord, as represented by the Meat

Offering, and as a result we can have fellowship with him in the Peace Offering.

Writing many years later Amos was certainly aware that the order of these first three

sacrifices was deeply significant:

“Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them:

neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.”1

What makes this offering unique is that every party could eat of the sacrifice; the

offerer, the priest, God and the priest’s children. Therefore in the sacrifice we view

man fellowshipping with God in Christ. Interwoven through each aspect of the Peace

Offering we see Christ as the one in whom we enjoy the presence of God. Patrick

Fairbairn summed up the main emphasis of this particular sacrifice as follows:

1 Amos 5:22

91

“This participation by the offerer and his friends, this family feast upon the sacrifice,

may be regarded as the most distinctive characteristic of the peace-offering. It

denoted that the offerer was admitted to a state of near fellowship and enjoyment with

God, shared part and part with Jehovah and His priests, had a standing in His house

and a seat at His table. It was therefore the symbol of established friendship with

God, and near communion with Him in the blessings of His kingdom…In the feasts

upon the sacrifice, the feeding at the Lord’s own table, and on the provisions of His

house, we see the blessed state of honour and dignity to which the child of God is

raised; his nearness to the Father, and freedom of access to the best things in His

kingdom; so that he can rejoice in the goodness and mercy which are made to pass

before him and can say, ‘I have all and abound’.”2

Andrew Bonar, when commencing his comments on this third chapter of Leviticus,

most appropriately selected as his title text the immortal words of Paul:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus

Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and

rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”3

Bonar followed this up with the remarks:

“The connection is simply this: a justified soul, devoted to the Lord in all things,

spontaneously engages in acts of praise and exercises of fellowship, for the soul has

2 The Typology of Scripture Volume One, Fairbairn, Patrick, Glasgow,

T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 356-357. 3 Romans 5:1-2

92

been accepted, and is at peace with God. The Lord takes for granted that such a soul,

having free access to Him now, will make abundant use of that access.”4

Proceeding from these prefatory remarks I wish to examine the various aspects of the

Peace Offering by firstly observing the offering itself. Unlike the Burnt Offering the

whole of the animal was not sacrificed in this case:

“And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto

the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul

above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.”5

These represent the parts of the animal, which are rich and most desirable. The fat

was certainly the best, which could be offered. In addition to the fat described at the

beginning of the above quote the caul was in all likelihood a fatty area connected in

some way to the liver. It was a most generous act of hospitality in Bible times for a

host to kill the fatted calf for his guests, as in the case of the Prodigal Son. In the

Psalms David makes mentions of the attractiveness of the fatness:

“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make

them drink of the river of thy pleasures.”6

“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise

thee with joyful lips:”7

4 Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 52-53.

5 Leviticus 5:3-4

6 Psalm 36:8

93

The kidneys were also presented to the Lord, along with the fat, as part of the Peace

Offering. In the Hebrew Scriptures the kidneys are often the organs associated with

the seat of our innermost yearnings and are translated reins. Again I refer you to the

writing of inspired poetry:

“I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the

night seasons.”8

Again this brings us to the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of his people. When he

suffered he gave the fatness, the best that he could offer. In presenting himself he

gave a spotless body to the horrors of the cross and he gave a sinless soul to bear the

guilt of fallen humanity. There was no sacrifice more expensive than this. In

suffering he gave his best but he also gave his innermost being. Man has often been

guilty of over emphasizing the physical sufferings of Christ at the expense of his inner

agonies. As we trace Christ’s steps through the gospel record we observe his deep-

seated inner pain as he approached the hour of torment. John records that as Jesus

drew near to the tomb where the body of his dear friend Lazarus has been buried “he

groaned in his spirit and was troubled.”9 In a short time he knew he too must bear the

consequences of sin and tread the dark valley of death. As his soul would be offered

up to such a trial he was therefore troubled. Luke records that as the Lord approached

Jerusalem for the final time he “wept over it”.10

Matthew, Mark and Luke inform us

that on the eve of the crucifixion, in the darkness of Gethsemane, he cried unto his

Father in obedient yet agonizing submission “, O my Father, if it be possible, let this

7 Psalm 63:5

8 Psalm 16:7

9 John 12:33

10 Luke 9:41

94

cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”.11

Paul’s inspired

insight allows us to view a Christ, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered

up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to

save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”.12

There certainly was an

inner turmoil boiling in the soul of the Saviour as his desires were bent upon fulfilling

the Father’s will and offering his soul in so doing. Who can tell, however, the agony

of mind and soul in those three hours when his Father forsook him? The closing of

that period was the acme of his anguish as he cried, “My God, my God, my hast thou

forsaken me?”12

It is striking that in the Psalm Twenty-Two, which commences with

Messiah’s cry of desertion, the Saviour’s inner organs are depicted as being in state of

medical meltdown:

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it

is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my

tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”13

This physical dissolution of Christ’s vital parts is certainly a fulfillment of the offering

of the inners in the Peace Offering. What is more pertinent, however, is the

symbolism of this organic breakdown; the manner in which he gave his soul to deeper

pains which no man could ever come close to empathizing with. The Christ who was

made sin for us14

and the Lord who became curse on Calvary15

did so in order that we

might engage in fellowship with the living God.

11

Matthew 26:39. 12

Hebrews 5:7 12

Matthew 27:46 13

Psalm 22:14-15 14


Galatians 3:13

95

We shall proceed on from the offering to investigate the significance of the offerer. In

this instance I am convinced that the one who presented the sacrifice in the Peace

Offering is also type of the blessed Saviour of men. The work of Christ as man for

the sins of men is key to our understanding of this aspect of the type. As the offerer

brought his offering the man Christ Jesus presented himself as a vicarious sacrifice.

The reason for the incarnation of the Son of God was because it was necessary that a

perfect man die in the stead of humanity. The justice of God required this. Therefore

when the Lord sacrificed his body and soul we were literally offered with him. The

elect of God are distinctively identified with Christ in his offering. This lies at the

heart of the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ.

After the offerer presented the sacrifice, however, he had the right to eat from the

altar. In Chapter Five the offered beast is described as “the food of the offering made

by fire unto the Lord.”16

Later in the book it is stated much more explicitly that the

one who brought the sacrifice was permitted to partake of a meal from the offering:

“And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten

the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. But if the

sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same

day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be

eaten:”17

The satisfaction and joy, which the Lord experienced as a result of his sacrifice is the

corresponding antitype in this instance. Isaiah referred to this delight in prophecy;

16

Leviticus 3:11 17

Leviticus 7:15-16

96

“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall

my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”18

It logically

follows, however, that if the elect died with Christ in his suffering they also derive

satisfaction with him from his agonizing. Andrew Jukes concisely summed up this

aspect of the Peace Offering with the argument:

“So what he enjoys, we enjoy, for as us he enjoys it. Now this last thought is the

thought of the Peace-offering. Christ is satisfied and fed by his offering. But in this

he stands for us and therefore we are satisfied as soon as we thus apprehend him.”19

Paul wrote of Christ being sustained in his agonies by “the joy that was set before

him”.20

It is truly humbling to acknowledge that our Saviour receives joy and

satisfaction from the ingathering of the elect. It is equally triumphant to understand

that there is “joy unspeakable and full of glory”21

for all of God’s people in and

through Christ’s satisfaction. Just as surely as our sins were condemned with him, we

have risen with him and will therefore be eternally satisfied with him.

This satisfaction we derive from our one and only Mediator is the very ground of our

fellowship with Jehovah. David understood this partially at least when he penned the

words, “…in thy presence is fullness of joy; and at thy right hand there are pleasures

for evermore.”22

The right hand is linked to the presence of God here because this is

the position of Christ, our advocate. It is apparent in the New Testament that we

enjoy fellowship with the Father through Christ’s intercession at the right hand:

18

Isaiah 53:11 19

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Hebrews 12:2 21

1 Peter 1:8 22

Psalm 16:11

97

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who

is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”23

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high

priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;”24

Furthermore writing to the Ephesians Paul exclaimed that God has, “raised us up

together and made us sit together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in

Christ Jesus”.25

We not only enjoy fellowship with the Father through Christ’s

intercession but we literally are present with Christ as he resides in his place of

honour at “the right hand of the Majesty on high.”26

This certainly raises the

Christian to an elevated place far above the darkness and uncertainty of the world in

which we dwell. The apostolic exhortations abound with references to this glorious

theme, which the modern Christian must take to heart. In this world of material

ambition there should be an ear for the words received by the Colossians to, “Set your

affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” This can be achieved by

seeking “those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God”.

This passage to the Colossians refers to the life of the believer being “hid with Christ

in God” and the Son of God is referred to as being “our life”.27

Therefore our union

with the offerer not only in his offering but in the satisfaction he derived from the

offering is the basis of the Christian’s life of victory and joy. This presents us not

23

Romans 8:34 24

Hebrews 8:1 25

Ephesians 2:6 26

Hebrews 1:3 27

Colossians 3:1-4

98

only with a comfort but with a powerful challenge to make use of the means of access

open to us and spend much time in fellowship with God in Christ.

As the worshipper feasted from the sacrifice in the Peace Offering the altar is

described in Malachi as being “the table of the Lord.”28

Therefore this particular rite

is a specific foreshadowing, along with the Feast of Passover, of the New Testament

Communion Feast where the believer feasts by faith upon the merits of Christ’s

sacrifice. We must not minimise the importance of the Lord’s Table where our

spiritual nourishment and growth in grace is concerned. In Christ, who offered

himself we partake of the feast, and in Christ we fellowship with the Father in a most

unique way as we prayerfully receive the emblems. As it behoved the ancient Jew to

come with his Peace Offering so it behoves us to an even greater degree to make use

of the means of grace that enable us to access the presence of the Triune God.

In considering the various aspects of this particular sacrifice I wish in the third place,

to consider God. As with the Burnt and Meat Offering this sacrifice created a sweet

savour acceptable to Jehovah. While the offerer ate and was satisfied God himself

was also satisfied. This accentuates the whole concept of fellowship, intrinsic to our

understanding of this ritual. As a feast denotes the enjoyment of company so the

Peace Offering depicts God and man deriving benefit together from the same

sacrifice. It is clear that God is pleased with the outworking of Calvary. Isaiah

described Jehovah as being “pleased” to “bruise” Messiah.29

He unites with us in joy

over what his Son has accomplished. Andrew Jukes, however, called on believers to

28

Malachi 1:7 29

Isaiah 53:10

99

remember that their fellowship with God was based upon the Christ and his merits

and to order their prayer lives accordingly:

“How often do when we approach God do we speak to Him only about our feelings,

our experiences, our sins, our trials. All this is right; we cannot be without these, and

we are right to tell them to our Father. But after all, this of itself is not communion,

nor will speaking of these things ever yield it to us. Let us come before God to be

filled with Christ, to be taken up with Him, His life, His ways, His sweetness; let the

confession of our failure and nothingness in ourselves be made the plea that we may

be filled with Him; and our intercourse will soon be changed to communion, for in

Him we shall have something we can share. May the Lord lead us more into His

presence, there to be taught what we possess in Jesus; and then, when we meet our

brethren or our Father, we shall feast together on what there is in Him”.30

Fourthly we shall turn our attention to the priest who also ate of the sacrifice along

with the offerer and Jehovah. This is particularly evident from the Law of the Peace

Offering where the breast of the creature offered was said to belong to Aaron. In the

offerer we saw Christ as the perfect man who offered himself and through whom we

derive satisfaction from the cross. In the priest, however, we once again view Christ,

on this occasion, as our Mediator. The distinction between the offerer and the priest I

admit is not readily apparent but yet in the person of our Lord there is a real

distinction, which we ought to grasp. As man for example he yielded to the agonies

of the cross. As High Priest, however, he presented his body of humanity as the

offering for the sins of men. Therefore Christ was the willing sacrifice and the

30

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100

presiding priest all at the one time. As our Great High Priest, however, the Saviour

derives constant pleasure from the work that he wrought at the cross. Paul when

writing to the Jewish converts made use of this very fact:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of

death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death

for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all

things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect

through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of

one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare

thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”31

The apostle proceeds from describing the Lord as being “crowned with glory and

honour” and as the one “for whom are all things, and by whom are all things” to

defining how these acclamations are realised, “in bringing many sons unto glory”.

The Mediator feeds from his own sacrifice by claiming his elect through the

justification, adoption, regeneration, sanctification and ultimately, glorification. He

himself was not made perfect through suffering because he was eternally holy.

Nevertheless the office of Mediator could only be fulfilled, completed or perfected

through the agonies of Golgotha. As a result the captain who has brought many sons

to glory will sing praises in the midst of his church for eternity. This is a truly

triumphant picture of a High Priest who is eternally glorified by his own offering.

31

Hebrews 2:9-12

101

Turing from the satisfaction of Aaron let us now in the sixth instance look at the

feeding of the children of the priest. Again this is discovered in the Law of the Peace

Offering:

“And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron’s and

his sons’. And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of

the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the

blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part. For

the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off

the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and

unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.”32

The sons of the Aaron are undoubtedly a fitting type of believers whom Paul, as we

have already observed, described as being the sons brought to glory by Christ. In the

offerer we viewed the Christian enjoying the merits of our Lord’s sacrifice in the man

Christ Jesus whereas in the children of Aaron we observe the people of God engaging

in these benefits personally rather than federally. The distinction, once again, may be

fine yet important because we enabled to examine, as it were through a microscope,

God’ plan and scheme of redemption. The personal claiming of the merits of Christ is

a logical outcome of the representative enjoyment of those benefits in him as our

federal head.

Also, in the sons of Aaron we observe the Priesthood of all Believers, which was the

precious truth rediscovered at the Reformation. The New Testament believer is a

32

Leviticus 7:31-34

102

priest in God’s Kingdom with rights of access to Jehovah that far outweigh the

benefits enjoyed by the tribe of Levi in ancient times. Only the High Priest could

enter the Holy of Holies and that entrance was limited to once a year. The sons of

Aaron had to be content with important yet peripheral duties. The New Testament

“royal priesthood”33

, however, has access to the holy place made without hands and is

there assured of the ear of Jehovah. As the sons of Aaron had a claim to the offering

so we today have a right to the place of prayer, which gives us access to the throne of

grace. What a glorious incentive to increased fervency in prayer; it is laying hold

upon what is ours by right.

Furthermore it is important that we take note of the occasions when the Peace

Offering was presented, which were additional to the daily sacrifice. The first relates

to a time of thanksgiving.34

In this New Testament age praise is regarded as a

sacrifice when we fellowship with the Lord in the full knowledge of what he had

accomplished:

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the

fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”35

We can well add that without a spirit of praise it is impossible to fellowship properly

with God. The exercises of faith must be enjoyable to be profitable and if not they

become perfunctory. The second occasion for the performance of this ritual was as an

accompaniment to the making of a vow.36

The vow here referred to relates to a

33

1 Peter 2:9 34

Leviticus 7:11-13 35

Hebrews 13:15 36

Leviticus 7:16

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promise made to God. Therefore when the worshipper surrendered his will to

Jehovah and put himself under an obligation to serve he presented his Peace Offering.

It is true that in this regard Christ stands as our example as the one said to his Father,

“Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O

my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”37

Bound up therefore with our fellowship

with the Lord should be desire to serve the one to whom we are bound with cords of

love. Whether we make vows to God or not is irrelevant because the believer has an

obligation to spend his life in service. If we are obedient we are enjoying the

fellowship, which the Peace Offering speaks particularly of.

In the final place I wish to examine the impediments, which prevented the enjoyment

of the Peace Offering. If the worshipper or indeed the priest was unclean then he

could not partake of the sacrifice. He was therefore cut off from the benefits of the

offering.38

The believer who sins loses fellowship with the Lord and is therefore

excluded from the enjoyment of spiritual pleasures. David was well aware of this

painful fact when he cried unto God confessing his immorality, “Cast me not away

from thy presence; and taken not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of

thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”38

Abraham was the friend of God

who lost the tangible tokens of that friendship for thirteen long years as a result of his

sinfulness.39

The New Testament certainly teaches that where a believer lapses into

outward sin that is damaging to the testimony of Christ the church itself must remove

privilege from that individual. Paul, for example, exhorted the Thessalonians to

37

Psalm 40:7-8 38


Psalm 51:11-12 39

Genesis 16:16 and Genesis 17:1

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withdraw themselves from the “brother that walketh disorderly.”40

Our Lord and

Saviour taught that the church member who refused to heed exhortations and

warnings regarding sinful behaviour was to be cast off as a “heathen man and a

publican”.41

The greatest of censures, however, comes from the chastening hand of

God who can inflict the disobedient believer with sickness or even, in the most severe

cases, with death. The reason for such extreme visitations in that sin among the

Lord’s people is a much more serious matter than among the children of this world.

As God’s name and testimony is at stake he must deal with shameful matters among

his people. This was the sad situation that prevailed among the Corinthians:

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that

cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to

himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly

among you, and many sleep.”42

We live in times where professing believers are indifferent where their lives are

concerned and where holiness is regarded as an old fashioned or even an offensive

subject. The Peace Offering while highlighting our privileges also confronts us with

our responsibilities. The professing church needs to rekindle a humble fear of God,

which was the secret of our forefather’s power.

40

2 Thessalonians 3:6 41

Matthew 18:15-17 42

1 Corinthians 11:28-30

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CHAPTER SIX

THE SIN OFFERING

Leviticus 4 – 5:13

In this chapter I will move away from the offerings associated with the daily sacrifice

to the first of the two presented only as and when required. As the name obviously

implies this sacrifice was presented when sin was known to have been committed.

Andrews Jukes draws the distinction between this offering and the first three, which

have already been contemplated:

“The Burnt-offering, the Meat-offering and the Peace-offering much as they differed,

were alike in this, that in each of them the offering was the presentation of something

which was sweet to Jehovah, an oblation to satisfy his holy requirements, and in

acceptance of which he found grateful satisfaction. But in the Sin and Trespass-

offerings, we read of sin in connexion with the offering. Here is confessed sin, judged

sin, sin requiring sacrifice and blood-shedding; yet sin atoned for, blotted out and

pardoned…The Sin-offering shows that sin has been judged, and that therefore the

sense of sin, if we believe, need not shake our sense our safety”.1

It is therefore logical to argue that the theme of this sacrifice is forgiveness through

Christ. Conviction is the awareness within the sinner of his guilt before God whereas

1 The Law of the Offerings, Jukes, Andrew, Kregel Publications, 1966. Page 137-138

106

conversion is the experimental realisation that sin has been forgiven through the

covering of Christ’s precious blood. This is the glory of the Sin Offering.

Proceeding now to examine the Sin Offering I wish firstly to highlight the reason for

the sacrifice. The scriptures record that this sacrifice was particularly required when

the sin of “ignorance”2 was committed. Strictly speaking this was not a sin committed

in total ignorance, as the Authorised Version has translated it. Professor Fairbairn

states that the Hebrew word “bishgagah” means “by erring, by mistake, or

oversight”.3 In the case cited in the thirteenth verse it was quite clearly a sin of

ignorance that was intended because the people there transgressed due to a lack of

spiritual leadership. The truth was “hid from the congregation” and sin ensued. The

reference in Numbers to the one guilty of manslaughter, however, throws a lot of light

upon this particular Hebrew word:

“Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may

flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.”4

The word translated here, as “unawares” is once again the Hebrew “bishgagah”. The

manslayer was one who killed as the result of an accident. Due to lack of care and

foresight a life was lost and while a wrong was clearly committed the guilt was not as

great as in the case of premeditated murder. This sin of ignorance is further defined

by the contrast drawn with the so-called sin of presumption. Fairbairn literally

2 Leviticus 4:2


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 327. 4 Numbers 35:11

107

translated this misdemeanour a sin “of the high hand”5 or a deliberate act of folly as

opposed to mere accident, mistake or a wrong committed in moment of impulse. For

this crime there would be no Sin Offering. Rather than receiving mercy such an

individual would be “cut off from among the people”.6 It remains the case that there

are certain sins which are beyond the reach of mercy. In this New Testament age God

is particularly grieved with professing Christians who sin with impunity and appear to

have no regard for truth and conscience. Of such Paul declared, “For if we sin

wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no

more sacrifice for sins,”.7

For now, however, let us content ourselves with the reason for the Sin Offering, the

inadvertent transgression. Chapter Five furnishes us with specific examples of the

kinds of sins, which could be cleansed by the Sin Offering. The first relates to the

man who heard “the voice of swearing” and had therefore sinned in so doing. The

second involved the individual who touched an unclean creature unwittingly. The

third characterised the person who in error touched “the uncleanness of man”. The

final example involved the man who made a vow but who did not understand the

implications thereof and as a result went back on his word

This sin of ignorance certainly highlights the deceitfulness and darkness that resides

in the heart of man. God views sin dimly even in cases where men may make

legitimate excuses. One may argue with natural logic that there is no sin in merely

hearing the voice of swearing but God thinks differently. The sound of the wicked


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 327 6 Numbers 15:27-30

7 Hebrews 10:26

108

voice has entered the mind and cleansing must be called for. It is so important that

God’s people discover a new sensitivity towards sin because the Lord never

minimises its evil.

This sin also instructs in the evil of sins of omission. The one who heard the voice of

swearing and who failed to bring the matter before the authority was culpable. Man

tends to focus upon sins of commission but God draws to our attention the failure of

inaction.

The sin of ignorance certainly brings before us the danger of making conscience the

sole arbiter between right and wrong. In this world where people shy away from

absolute ideas concerning holiness a lot is said about acting according to one’s

conscience. While it is important to have a good conscience where spiritual matters

are concerned we must remember that this too has been warped and defaced by

Original Sin. Mr MacIntosh wrote on this very issue

“The fact of a “sin of ignorance” demonstrates, most clearly, the uncertainty which

must attend upon every settlement of the question of sin, in which no higher claims

have been responded to than those put off by the most refined human conscience.

There can never be settled peace upon this ground. There will always be the painful

apprehension that there is something wrong underneath. If the heart be not led into

settled repose by the scripture testimony that that the inflexible claims of God’s divine

justice have been answered, there must, of necessity, be a sensation of uneasiness, and

every such sensation is a barrier to our worship, our communion and our testimony.”8

8 Notes on the Leviticus, .MacIntosh, C.H., Second Edition Revised,

109

In ancient times an individual may have transgressed in a certain manner because of a

lack of knowledge or as a result of poor instruction. This person may then have

claimed as some modern Christians do,“My conscience allows me to behave in such a

fashion”. Such a defence, however, was not allowable in the court of God’s justice

because his word and not man’s reason is the sole judge between right and wrong.

Therefore whatever man’s claim was God required a sin offering. The situation that

arose between Abraham and Abimelech, King of Gerar, is a case in point. The King

took Sarah into the company of his wives and concubines because Abraham lied by

introducing her as his sister. Abimilech therefore sinned in ignorance but this did not

prevent the Lord coming to him in a dream, “Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the

woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife”.9 Another example is the case

of James and John who were so incensed at the Samaritan village which refused their

Lord that they called him to bring fire from heaven to destroy the people. Christ

rebuked them, however, “ Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of

man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.10

The sons of Zebedee were

acting sincerely motivated by a sense of loyalty to the Lord. They sinned in ignorance

without knowing their manner of spirit but, even so, what they desired was entirely

contrary to the gospel of Christ. Therefore they learned a vital lesson which remained

with them until the day of their death.

It is undoubtedly true that God’s word gives the New Testament believer freedom to

act according to conscience on huge raft of issues relating to practical Christian living.

Romans Fourteen is the classic chapter which deals with the doctrine of Christian

liberty and its truths must always be borne in mind if unity is to be preserved among

George Morrish, 24 Warwick Lane, London, page 99. 9 Genesis 20:3

10 Luke 9:55-56

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God’s people. Conscience, however, must not be employed as a justification for

acting in a way, which is clearly against the letter or the spirit of Scripture. Nor must

conscience be called to validate words or actions, which are offensive to the church in

which we serve. Rather we must be careful to regulate conscience according to the

Word of God.

In summing up this sin of ignorance or the unwitting act of folly we are confronted

with the solemn fact that every believer sins more than he realizes. James wrote, “For

whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”11

There is no room for self-righteousness and foolish pride in the thinking of men

because together humanity is united by their need of the great Sin Offering of which

the ancient ritual was but a faint foreshadowing.

In the second place let us turn our attention to the people who were affected by the Sin

Offering. In the Leviticus Four there are four classes of persons whose sin could be

atoned for with this sacrifice. The instructions concerning the Sin Offering were

different in each case. The first class of persons was the priests of the Lord.12

The

second class was the “congregation of Israel”13

The burden of condemnation here,

however was upon the spiritual leadership, notably the elders, for failing to guide the

people aright and as a result the entire nation fell. This was what transpired at Sinai

when as a result of Aaron’s weakness the people worshipped the golden calves. Some

have actually interpreted the word “congregation” as pointing to the ruling council or

the seventy elders but the Hebrew word, as far as most commentators understand,

does not allow this interpretation. The third group affected by this sacrifice was the

11

James 2:10 12

Leviticus 4:3-12. 13

Leviticus 4:13-21

111

rulers of each tribe14

, which were a lower class of officer than either elder or priest.

The final group detailed concerned the common people, which was the lowest class of

person in the nation.15

The chief lesson I wish to deduce from the variety of groups is that God takes sin

much more seriously when it breaks out among those in spiritual leadership than when

it takes root among individuals with no public office to fulfil. The priesthood is

mentioned first because as those anointed by Jehovah to order the service of the

sanctuary they had a primary role in the administration of the Kingdom. Therefore

when the priest sinned it was important that the veil within the Tabernacle of Witness

be sprinkled seven times with the blood of the sacrifice. This emphasized the point

that the worship of God was affected by the sins of the priest and only the blood of

atonement could bring absolution. When those in leadership sin the work of the

church is affected, the unsaved think ill of the gospel and the people of God may

become discouraged and backslidden. In the case of Hophni and Phineas, the people

of God became sinful because of their abuse of the offerings and their immorality.16

Mr Bonar points out that the phrase “If the priest that is anointed do sin according to

the sin of the people;” is more properly rendered, “If the priest that is anointed do sin

‘so as to cause the people to sin’”. It is therefore incumbent upon those in leadership

to lead lives, which are beyond reproach and those in ministry must be careful that

they rightly divide the word of truth. Therefore the people of God must pray for those

who are engaged in leading the work of God as Paul himself requested:

14


Leviticus 4:27-5:13 16

1 Samuel 2

112

“Brethren, pray for us.”17

It is natural that the following group should be the congregation, which relates to the

people sinning as a whole as the result of poor leadership. When sin broke out among

the people as a whole their standing with God was threatened. This was the case at

Sinai, it was also the case when Korah, Dathan and Abiram challenged the leadership

of Moses and Aaron and a similar situation prevailed at Kadesh Barnea. Therefore it

is was important that when the people fell in this way the inner veil be sprinkled seven

times with the shed blood to restore fellowship which was lost. Andrew Bonar, in his

typically flowing and spiritually perceptive style, applied the sin of the congregation

to the Protestant church with these remarks:

“…a whole church may be in the state of the congregation referred to here. It may be

denying some great truth in theory or in practice. Thus, it may make light of the duty

that kings and magistrates owe to Christ; as is done by some Churches. It may be

suffering ‘that woman Jezebel to teach and to seduce’ (Rev. 2. 20). It may be

admitting some civil element into the management of its spiritual affairs, as is done in

many Protestant Churches. It may be shutting its eyes to some great truth, or winking

at some heresy. It may teach error in doctrine; or it may have left its first love. It may

have allowed discipline to become lax and corrupt, as alas! is too generally true of all

the churches of the Reformation.

These secret sins may be keeping God from blessing the whole people, though he

blesses individuals. Somewhere amid these sources is to be found the origin of much

17

1 Thessalonians 5:25

113

of our inefficiency and unprofitableness. Ai cannot be taken because of the accursed

thing in the camp. The mariners cannot make out the voyage to Tarshish with Jonah

on board.

Israel was thus led to constant self-examination and close attention to the revealed

will of God.”18

Rev Bonar’s remarks are serious and if taken in the correct spirit will provoke every

pastor to seriously consider his charge. Is this why we are not experiencing revival in

the western world today? Has the glory departed because the church has failed her

Lord? David G Fountain’s biography of E.J. Poole-Connor illustrates this fact most

appropriately. Poole-Connor was an English non-conformist preacher whose ministry

spanned the turbulent years from the time of Spurgeon to his death in 1960. The book

is in many respects an account of the slide the Protestant church in England

experienced from the heady heights of the nineteenth century revival to the murky

depths of liberalism, unbelief and apostasy. The story is one of deep tragedy and

enables us to discover the source of Britain’s present spiritual decay. After 1880 the

Higher Criticism of the German schools slowly became attractive to British

evangelicals. At first they regarded the German scholars as brilliant students who had

much to offer. Favourable articles concerning their work appeared in evangelical

journals. A growing number of preachers began to accept at least some of the claims

made by the Higher Critics. Between 1880 and 1890 the views of this school of

unbelief had certainly entered the Bible Colleges, although the pulpits did not preach

this message but continued to sound an orthodox tone. The following quotes from Mr

18


114

Fountain’s book not only tell the sad story but show us how God chastens when the

congregation of God’s people are led into sin:

“Thus the doors to higher criticism had been opened by men of ‘unquestioned

evangelical faith’. The pew did not want it but the men in the pulpit wanted above all

to be ‘in the fashion’.

…Ministers were concerned not to disturb their people with higher criticism, yet

wanted to introduce it gently. They tended to keep the ‘old’ interpretations in so far

as they were not directly contradicted by the higher criticism they accepted. Some

accepted more than others, and each found his own compromise…

Spurgeon ,however, could see where all this was going to lead, and that there was no

half-way position. He was the first, and one of the very few, to sound an alarm. But

so subtle was the behaviour of the modernists that even Spurgeon underestimated the

apostasy, and had sounded the alarm too late.

…The battle came with Spurgeon’s Down-Grade controversy in 1887. It was an

attempt to draw out the enemy in open battle, but they would not fight. They had

succeeded too well by other means”.19

These statements illustrate how subtly Satan can destroy the Church of Christ. The

people of God are ignorantly led into error and the Holy Spirit is grieved and

quenched.

19

Contending For The Faith, E.J. Poole-Connor, A ‘prophet amid sweeping changes in English

evangelicalism,. Fountain, David G, The Wakeman Trust, London, 2005. Pages 55,57,58,59.

115

It is also worthy of note that sin among the priests and corporate sin within the

congregation required the death of a bullock whereas the rulers of the tribes and the

common people were asked to make atonement by sacrificing lesser creatures. From

this fact it is possible to argue that all sins are not equally heinous in God’s sight.

While the smallest transgression of the law renders man deserving of Hell’s flames

the Lord sees some sin as carrying a greater weight of condemnation than others.

Therefore in the case of Israel he commanded for some the Sin Offering of the bullock

and for others the sin offering of the lamb or even a lesser creature still as we shall

observe later in this chapter. As God demanded a more expensive beast to atone for

the sins of the spiritual leaders it follows that the chastening upon these men, if their

iniquity was not confessed, would have been heavier. There is a principle laid down

here that God weighs our sin according to our privilege, responsibility and our

potential to spread evil influence. When the pastor falls the church is discouraged and

the enemies of the gospel are given opportunity to laugh and to mock. Oh that all

minister and their officers would take this to heart and walk circumspectly in the

world. God, therefore, will deal with the sinful minister in a most severe fashion, as

he will not allow his glory to be undermined.

The rulers of the tribes were civil as opposed to being spiritual leaders and were

therefore not required to offer the same Sin Offering as those with spiritual

responsibility. Nevertheless he brought a male of the goats to make atonement as

opposed to the common person who brought only a female of the goats. God does

expect those with civil responsibility to honour his law in the administration of state,

whether that ruler is a professing Christian or not. In this day of political darkness

when the principles of Scripture are being neglected on an unprecedented scale it is

116

most comforting to know that Governments are answerable to God. As the “powers

that be are ordained of God”20

he will in time deal harshly with those who refuse the

one who gave them their authority. While the hearts of men are swayed by the

influence of the evil one, God’s kingdom is above all earthly dominion, and his

authority will in the final analysis be unanswerable.

The fact that the common people were included in the Sin Offering highlights the fact

that transgressing the law is serious for all people whatever their responsibility. There

is one whose eyes pierce every heart and who demands that sin must be punished.

The darkness, the deception and the unavoidable nature of sin as we observe it in this

sacrifice ought to bring us to our knees with cries for the mercy of God.

Finally, I wish to look at the remedy in the Sin Offering. As surely as this sacrifice

reveals the horrendous nature of man’s folly it also paints the glories of God’s

sovereign grace. Herein we see Calvary in its fullness. The cross brings before our

eyes the darkness of man but above all it reveals the mercy of God in that he gave his

only begotten Son to truly cursed death.

When we study in particular the scale of the offerings available to the common people

we will note that the remedy was universal in it character. The Scriptures use the

words of the worshipper, “If he be not able to bring a lamb”, which seems to imply

that the inability was as a result of poverty. The fact that the alternative laid down

was “two turtledoves, or two young pigeons” confirms this conclusion, as these

creatures were more easily obtainable. The Lord later lowers the standard to yet

20

Romans 13:1

117

another level when he again uses the phrase, “if he be not able”, this time with

reference to the worshipper’s inability to bring the “two turtledoves, or two young

pigeons”. This would indicate extreme poverty but in such circumstances “the tenth

part of an ephah of fine flour” was acceptable for a sin offering.21

How gracious was

the Lord in recognising the inabilities of his people and meeting their needs in such

manner that none were excluded from the Sin Offering. The gospel today is universal

in that it extends to every nation, every race, every tongue, every religion and every

social class. As the God of glory will accept the “whosoever” the church ought to be

excluding none in their evangelism by making salvation freely available.

In the Sin Offering the blood of the beast has a greater emphasis, than in the other

sacrifices that we have considered to date. Patrick Fairbairn described the “action

with the blood”, as he called it, as being the “chief and most distinctive peculiarity in

this species of sacrifice.”22

In every case the blood of the beast was poured out at the

bottom of the Brazen Altar. Where the sins of the princes and the common people

were concerned blood was placed upon the horns of the altar. When atonement was

made for the priests and the congregation, however, the blood was carefully brought

into the Tent of Witness to be sprinkled upon the veil and then placed on the altar of

sweet incense. There can be no doubt that the blood in relation to forgiveness is

deeply symbolic of the precious blood of Christ in the matter of redemption.

Fairbairn described this aspect of the Sin Offering as being “the intensely atoning

power of its blood” and labelled it “as God’s special provision for removing the guilt

21

Leviticus 5:7,11 22



118

of sin.”23

We rejoice in the special provision procured by God at Calvary when Jesus

Christ did in substance what the ancient offering did in shadow:

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once

into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of

bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the

purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the

eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead

works to serve the living God?”24

The pouring of the blood at the base of the Brazen Altar prefigures the manner in

which our Saviour would die, by the shedding of blood. It was plainly not enough for

the Lord to die. The sacrifice of his life was insufficient. As there is no remission

without the shedding of blood25

the Saviour was therefore constrained to allow his

blood to flow from his body.

The sprinkling of the blood upon the four corners of the Brazen Altar and the Altar of

Incense prefigures the coming day when the message of the blood of Christ would go

into the four corners of the world; “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,

and preach the gospel to every creature.”26

As the number seven is the number of perfection the sevenfold sprinkling of the blood

upon the veil typifies the perfect atonement which the sinner receives through the

23



Hebrews 9:12-14 25

Hebrews 9:22 26

Mark 16:15

119

merits of Christ; “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a

greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this

building;”27

The carrying of the blood into the Tent of Witness shows “how Christ should enter

into heaven, by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us, Heb.

9.12.”28

The blood is certainly a real entity in heaven and when we come to consider

the Day of Atonement we will further observe the type concerning this truth worked

out in more detail.

The final element in the remedy of the Sin Offering was also peculiar in that the

beasts were not burned on the Brazen Altar but outside the camp. This must have

been a most solemn ceremony as A. J. Pollock graphically described:

“But now came the most solemn part of the ceremony. The skin of the bullock, its

flesh, its head, its legs, and inwards, its dung, the priest had to carry outside the camp

to a clean place, where the ashes were poured out, and burn the whole on wood with

fire. Surely the mind of the priest would feel deeply the seriousness of all this. The

camp was a large place. Six hundred thousand men able to bear arms, beside old men

and youths, women and children were encamped around the Tabernacle. It must have

been a solemn testimony as to what God thought about sin. A distance of six or seven

27

Hebrews 9:11 28


Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 989.

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miles lay between the Tabernacle and “outside the camp, where its ashes were poured

out.”29

The fat, which represented the best and most valuable part of the creature, was burned

within the camp, the blood was retained also but the other parts were consumed in this

outer place. The parts which were consumed in this way typify what was destroyed in

Calvary’s propitiation. The skin of the creature was its outward beauty and that which

proud man glories in met divine justice in Christ. The flesh is a general Biblical

picture of sin, which was utterly consumed in the body of the Redeemer. As the head

of the beast was cast into the inferno so the thoughts of man, which contemplate evil

continually, suffered the wrath of the almighty at Golgotha. The legs of the creature

speak of the activity of man and Christ suffered the punishment that our wicked deeds

deserve. The consumption of the inwards reveal the hidden deceptive sins that were

laid bare upon the crucified Lord. The dung represents that which was vile and evil.

There is a depth of wickedness in the nature of man, which we in our foolishness

cannot comprehend. Calvary, however, focuses our gaze upon both the ruin and

recovery of man. It is a truly humbling sight to witness the Eternal Son bearing our

vileness in unimaginable torment. Andrew Jukes certainly grasped this truth:

“Do I then speak lightly of sin? God forbid! If we want to know how hateful it is, we

have but to look at the Sin-offering; to see the Holy One of God, His beloved Son, for

sin cast out and broken”.30

29

The Tabernacle’s Typical Teaching, Pollock, A. J,

The Central Bible Truth Depot, London. Page 111. 30

The Law of the Offerings, Jukes, Andrew, Kregel Publications, 1966. Page 153

121

A. J. Pollock expounded the same wondrous words with the pithy remarks:

“In these details we get the solemn sense of what sin is, and of the unutterable woe

that the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, had to face to meet our terrible need”.31

Without a doubt the words of Paul are grander and more eloquent than any penned by

men, without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, concerning the Lord our Sin Offering:

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his

own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”32

The burning of the beast without the camp foreshadows the Saviour of men dying

physically outside the city walls of Jerusalem. That fact in itself is symbolic of the

Christ’s rejection by the Jews as his own people refused him. Without the camp,

however, was most perfectly fulfilled when our Lord cried, “My God, my God why

hast thou forsaken me?” In the intense darkness Christ felt our misery as he trod the

winepress of Jehovah’s wrath alone as he was separated from the love of his Father

because of our sins, this hymn by Mrs Cousin aptly illustrates:

“Jehovah lifted up his road:

O Christ, it fell on Thee!

Thou wast sore stricken of Thy God;

There’s not one stroke for me:

Thy tears, Thy blood beneath it flowed;

31

The Tabernacle’s Typical Teaching, Pollock, A.J.,

The Central Bible Truth Depot, London. Page 112. 32

Romans 8:3

122

Thy bruising healeth me.

Jehovah bade his sword awake:

O Christ, it woke ‘gainst thee!

Thy blood the flaming blade must slake,

Thy heart its sheath must be:

All for my sake, my peace to make-

Now sleeps that sword for me.

Anne Ross Cousin, 1824 – 1906”33

33


of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No. 100

123

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE TRESPASS OFFERING

Leviticus 5:14 – 6:7

We come now to examine the second of the particular offerings that were presented

not on a daily basis but on special occasions. The first of these was the sin offering,

which was demanded when the sin of ignorance or the inadvertent transgression was

committed. The second, the trespass offering, was demanded when property was

violated. The word trespass means to step over a boundary and go into a forbidden

place. In the Old Testament it includes sins such as theft as well as the breaking of

God’s sacred law. What makes the trespass offering unique, however, was that

restitution was demanded in addition to the sacrifice in order for the offering to be

acceptable. This is a truth that must be grasped in order for a holistic understanding

of the gospel to be reached. While faith in Christ, following after Christ, fellowship

with Christ and forgiveness through Christ are all vital, but they cannot be enjoyed if

the sinner does not repent by making restitution for wrongs committed against God

and man. This is borne out by the Hebrew word “asham” which has been translated

“trespass”. The literal connotation of this term is “debt” making this sacrifice the debt

offering. While all the offerings imply man’s debt this particular sacrifice focuses

upon the debts which man can rectify through repentance. Professor Fairbairn saw

this offering as being a “second class of sin offering” which emphasised this debt

which man personally could repay:

124

“So that the trespass-offering may justly be regarded as a kind of sin-offering of the

second rank, intended for such cases as were peculiarly fitted for enforcing upon the

sinner’s conscience the moral debt he had occurred by his transgression, in the

reckoning of God, and the necessity of his at once rendering satisfaction to the divine

justice he had offended and making restitution in regard to the brotherly relations he

had violated.”1

This is a truth, however, which is much wider than the gospel in its application. It is

also one aspect of sanctification in the life of the believer. While it is true that there is

forgiveness available upon confession to our Great High Priest we will not experience

the consciousness of assurance until we remedy our wrongs in the sight of man. For

some this will mean an apology, for others it will mean confession while in more

serious instances the police may need to be notified if the civil law has been broken.

One of the most striking instances in church history were the events which transpired

in the Harland and Wolfe Shipyard, Belfast, during the revival which broke out under

the preaching of the inimitable evangelist, William Patterson Nicholson. The newly

converted workers returned stolen goods in such quantity that the management were

compelled to build a new warehouse to house the stock. This was an example of a

real living Christianity, which feared God and despised sin, the Trespass Offering

within a modern context. Believers may sing with great gusto, “Calvary covers it all”,

but Calvary will not cover what man does not uncover. Therefore the knife of the

Trespass Offering opens up the heart of man still further enabling us to view the

loathsomeness of sin and how God expects us to deal with our wrongs. The lesson

from this sacrifice is the fee demanded by Christ as we examine restitution and



125

repentance. In the sin offering we were brought to the realisation that we sin more

than we realise. With the trespass offering God is teaching us that sin has a price,

which must be paid.

In regard to the trespass committed against Jehovah the Levitical account states:

“If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the

Lord…he shall make amends for the harm he hath done in the holy thing.”2

“If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in

that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by

violence, or hath deceived his neighbour; Or have found that which was lost, and lieth

concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning

therein: Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore

that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or

that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,”3

Referring to these verses Andrew Jukes offers this perceptive remark regarding this

species of sacrifice:

“In every case of trespass wrong was done; there was an act of evil by which another

was injured. And the offering for this act, the Trespass-offering, (in this a

contrast to the Sin-offering,) was offered by the offerer, not because he was, but

because he had done evil. Accordingly in the Trespass-offering we never get sight of

2 Leviticus 5:15-16

3 Leviticus 6:24

126

any particular person as a sinner: the act of wrong is the point noticed and dwelt

upon.”4

There is therefore the sense that the two offerings presented after wrongs were

perpetuated, when taken together, allow us to view the two sides of sin which are the

nature of man and his wicked actions. One is a natural consequence of the other

because man’s nature leads him into wicked actions. It is this focus upon the act of

sin, which creates the logic that we examine restitution in looking at this sacrifice.

In analysing the particulars of this sacrifice, in the first place I wish to study the

trespass of the holy things of the Lord.5 This sin may properly be defined as

withholding from God what is rightfully his. In the writings of Moses there are

various examples of his type of trespass. One example relates to the laws concerning

the first-born.6 All of the first-born creatures among beasts and men were the Lord’s

property in a particular sense and had to be redeemed with a sacrifice. A refusal to do

so was a violation of Jehovah’s rights. The Sabbath Day furnishes us with a second

illustration because this was established as “holy”.7 Maintaining a sacred rest on the

Sabbath was a clear recognition that God was the creator and governor of the universe

and that he had therefore instituted the seventh day to be kept holy. Contravention of

this law was serious in that God was robbed. A final example relates to the ordinance

of the tithe.8 Giving the tenth recognised that all wealth came from the hand of the

Creator and that he therefore had the authority to claim the tenth. Withholding the

tithe, on the other hand, was an arrogant statement by man that all in is mine and I can

4 The Law of the Offerings, Jukes, Andrew, Kregel Publications, 1966. Page 174

5 Leviticus 5:14-19

6 Exodus 34:19-20

7 Exodus 20:8-11

8 Leviticus 27:30

127

behave as I wish. Speaking through Malachi, however, on this issue the Lord would

say to his negligent people many centuries later, “…ye have robbed me…in tithes and

offerings.”9 It is incumbent upon the church today to recognise the validity of the

Lord’s Day, as the New Testament Sabbath, and that there remains a duty to finance

the work of God by worshipping through the tithes and offering. This duty, however,

extends wider still in that the Holy Spirit teaches us that our actual bodies have been

bought with a price, which places us under an obligation to glorify God10

using the

body, or as it is phrased elsewhere that we present our bodies as living sacrifices

which is our “reasonable service”.11

To deny our Creator and Redeemer our time,

energies and talents is to rob God of that which is his by right.

The sin of robbing God, which could be atoned for by the Trespass Offering,

however, was not an intentional and premeditated act. The trespass in the holy things

of the Lord was committed through ignorance, as in the Sin Offering. It is clear for

example, from the case of Achan, that those who robbed God with intent received the

death penalty.12

While all sin is worthy of God’s wrath the Westminster Divines were

clearly correct when they stated, “Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several

aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.”13

The Lord clearly is

less compassionate upon those who sin with impunity than upon those who transgress

as a result of due care and foresight. Therefore Paul employed the phrase, “For if we

sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no

more sacrifice for sins”.

9 Malachi 3:8

10 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

11 Romans 12:1

12 Joshua 7

13 Westminster Assembly’s Shorter Catechism, Question 83.

128

Another peculiarity of the Trespass Offering was that the one who received the

atonement voluntarily confessed to his sin and as a result did not face formal charges:

“…then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord.”14

Obviously the individual, in this instance, had a conscience which was wounded with

the manner in which he had offended God was impressed with the burden to seek

forgiveness. This is the pressing need of the church today; that God’s people would

confess their sins with broken hearts weeping voluntarily out of a consciousness that

all is not well with their souls. This is the only preparation for a revival of true

religion.

There were two parts to the Trespass Offering, where the violation of God was

concerned. The first involved the presentation of a “ram without blemish out of the

flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.”15

In this instance there were no alternatives offered to the people, as was the case in the

other sacrifices. A ram out of the flocks was demanded and nothing less would

satisfy God. This underscores the gravity of offending God, in taking that which is

rightfully his. The ram was to come from among the choicest of the flock and it had

14

Leviticus 5:15 15

Leviticus 5:15

129

to cost “shekels of silver”. Referring to Rabbinical interpretations John Gill was of

the opinion that this represented two shekels:

“…as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom observe, the sense is, that the ram brought for the

trespass offering should be at least worth two shekels of silver…”16

While there appears, as far as I can ascertain, to be no definitive explanation as to

what the “shekel of the sanctuary” actually was it would be logical to suppose that this

currency weighed by the priests was always genuine and never counterfeit. Therefore

by demanding a ram, which was priced after the shekel of the sanctuary Jehovah was

emphasizing that this beast had to come from among the choicest of the flock.

The second aspect of the Trespass Offering, where the violation of God’s rights were

concerned, was the presentation of “the fifth part” in order that he might “make

amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing.” Andrew Bonar advanced a

most acceptable reason as to why this should have been the case:

“The trespasser is to be no gainer by defrauding God’s house. He is to suffer, even in

temporal things, as a punishment for his sin. He is to bring, in addition to the thing of

which he defrauded God, money to the extent of one-fifth of the value of the thing.”17

Bonar proceeded to perceptively describe this one – fifth as being a “double tithe

because of the attempt to defraud God”, before applying the truth most suitably to the

modern church:

16

Esword Bible Commentary, Downloaded from esword.net. 17

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966 6. Page 103.

130

“We shall never be gainers by stinting our time and service in the worship of God.

What we withdraw from Him He will withdraw from us in another way. Besides, the

very fact of cherishing such an idea in our minds will cause the Lord to veil His grace

and glory from our view until we have anew sought him by the blood of Jesus. And

in the meantime, the sorrow and darkness of our heart will teach us that it is a bitter

thing to depart from the Lord.”18

In addition to the Lord chastening his people, as Rev Bonar states, the fifth part may

also in my estimation represent the discipline that the wayward believer may be called

to face from the church. At times it is not enough to confess our sins to the Lord and

expect the covering of the precious blood. When the testimony of the church has been

violated publicly we may have to pay by accepting the discipline of the oversight.19

This discipline may involve admonishment, suspension from the Lord’s Table or in

the most severe cases, excommunication. Where the offender has a tender conscience

there will be an acceptance of the discipline but where there is impenitence there will

be rebellion. Where the violation of the Lord does not involve public scandal there

must be private confession before the Lord and an effort made to correct that which

was wrong.

I personally found Andrew Bonar’s view of Christ in the offering of the sacrifice and

in the paying of the fifth part to be particularly blessed:

“In these two provisions, do we not see set forth in symbol the great fact that God in

atonement must get back all the honour that His law lost for a time by man’s fraud;

18


This is a clear New Testament principle as the following passages demonstrate; Matthew 18:15-20,

1Cor. 5:1-5, 2Thessalonians 3:6-7.

131

and also must have the honour of His law vindicated by the payment of an amount of

suffering? The active obedience of Christ gave the one; His passive obedience

provided the other.”20

Therefore, when we sin we discover the grace to confess and put our wrongs to right,

even if that involves the humiliation of church discipline, through the perfect life of

Christ.

The second particular of the Trespass Offering that I wish to consider is the trespass

against fellow man.21

The Lord here specifies a number of sins, relating to other

people’s possessions, which came under remit of this sacrifice. Lying in that which

was delivered to keep certainly refers to the man who keeps that which was borrowed

for his own pleasure and profit. Therefore the workman was particularly distraught

when the axe head from the borrowed axe fell into the river as he cried, “Alas! My

master, for it was borrowed”.22

Lying within the context of “fellowship” refers,

according to Andrew Bonar, to “the transactions of public life; not, however, to

openly unlawful acts, but to acts lawful in appearance, while selfish in reality.”23

In

business believers ought to be most careful that they are never charged with deception

lest they bring Christ’s name into disrepute. Taking something away by violence

would suggest actual robbery whereas stealing by deception would indicate fraud.

Therefore the person who withholds the payment of his bills or who refuses to supply

his employees with a fair wage is as culpable as the thief who robs the home. There

20

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 103 - 104 21

Leviticus 6:1-7 22

2 Kings 6:5 23

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 107

132

are New Testament principles enshrined here which should not be lost on the church

today:

“Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you

kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into

the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.”24

The scriptures emphasise, however, that while the crime was perpetuated against man,

ultimately it was the Lord who was offended. Therefore Andrew Bonar most

appropriately wrote, “You have wronged God in wronging your neighbour”.25

Every

aspect of life can develop or damage our relationship with God. The Lord is certainly

concerned that we fulfil our duty to him but he equally zealous that we behave

appropriately where our fellow man is concerned.

To atone for sins of this nature against man the offender was required to come

forward and restore what he had stolen with the addition of the fifth part. If the case

went before the courts, however, the restitution instead of being 20% extra could be as

much as 500%:

“If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen

for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.”26

Therefore the trespass offering teaches that it is better to acknowledge our sins

because of a guilty conscience rather than wait until we are found out. The proof of

24

James 5:4 25

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 106 26

Exodus 22:1

133

our salvation is not that we do not sin but rather, it is seen in a tenderness of heart

when we fail. When the conscience convicts we must act. To fail is to numb it as

with a hot iron, which is a most treacherous course to embark on:

“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”27

This sin of trespass against our fellow man encourages us to act swiftly in settling our

problems with others. The Lord does not want us to wait until we are rebuked or

advised by another to make restitution. No, rather with the prompting of the Holy

Ghost he calls upon us to “hold good conscience”28

and humble ourselves in so doing

that we might put our wrongs to right as far, as this is humanly possible. Again we

are confronted with the beauties of God’s grace. While all sins are deserving of

punishment he extends himself freely in mercy to those who confess and repent,

feeling the weight of their shame.

When our fellow man is wronged it is important that we make restitution if the matter

is to be settled before God. Christ when teaching from the mount dealt clearly with

this issue:

“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother

hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be

reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”29

27

1 Timothy 4:2 28

2 Timothy 4:2 29

Matthew 5:23-24

134

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount” commented that

the Lord here is reminding us “of a very subtle danger in the spiritual life, the terrible

danger of trying to atone for moral failure by balancing evil with good.”30

The

Pharisee thought that his life was acceptable because he went through the form of

religion with great zeal and outward sincerity. As Christians we can easily avoid

facing up to our sins by becoming engaged in pious duties thinking that somehow that

will compensate for our sins. In reality, by so doing the believer is no better than the

self-righteous hypocrite who practices religion without admitting to his sinfulness. Dr

Lloyd-Jones summed up the words of Christ on this matter of making restitution by

making application to the modern Christian:

“This matter, He tells us, is so important, that, even if I find myself at the altar with a

gift I am going to offer to God, and there suddenly something I have said or done,

something which is causing another person to stumble or go wrong somehow; if I find

that I am harbouring unkind and unworthy thoughts about him or in way hindering his

life, then our Lord tells us (may I put it thus for reference), we should, in a sense, even

keep God waiting rather than stay. We must get right with our brother and then come

back and offer the gift. In the sight of God there is no value whatsoever in an act of

worship if we harbour a known sin.”31

Patrick Fairbairn commented upon the same passage, while expounding this particular

feast, using stern and uncompromising words:

30

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn,

Inter-Varsity Press, 2nd

Edition, 1976. Page 231. 31

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn


Edition, 1976. Page 232.

135

“He who refuses to put himself on right terms with an injured fellow-mortal, can

never be received into terms of peace and blessing with an offended God.”32

The Trespass Offering has long since passed away with the rending of the veil but if

the spirit of the ancient Jewish offerer does not prevail in the church our worship will

be a sham. We ought to pray that the Lord would grant us the grace to allow nothing

to hinder our prayers.

Offering the restitution alone, however, was insufficient to provide forgiveness for the

individual. The Lord also required the “ram without blemish”33

to be sacrificed for an

atonement. Praise God, atonement has been provided for those who offend others in

the blood of Jesus Christ. The individual who repents and makes restitution where

this is appropriate will experience the liberating power of assurance:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.”34

The converse is equally true; if the professor fails to uncover his transgressions he

will live in bondage and fear despite all his pretensions where faith is concerned:

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”35

32



Leviticus 6:6-7 34

1 John 1:9 35

1 John 1:10

136

Where there is true confession and an effort is made by the offender to put his wrongs

to right the people of God are duty bound to manifest the love and grace of the Lord

by welcoming the individual back into fellowship. While the path that the Trespass

Offering leads us appears difficult it is ultimately a way of grace and life. The apostle

Paul, after all, taught the Galatians, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye

which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself,

lest thou be also tempted.”36

With this concluding comment upon the grace of God, evident in the Trespass

Offering, our studies in the five Jewish sacrifices are brought quite fittingly to a close.

As we have taken each offering in turn we have witnessed the depth of sin and the

supremacy of the love of God in Christ. The pictures are awful yet at the same time

they are full of beauty. Such was Calvary. No place was more terrible yet the

redemption of man rests upon the sacred transaction that transpired there. I feel very

much like Mr Mackintosh as he concluded his chapter on the Trespass Offering:

“We shall here close our meditations upon one of the richest sections in the whole

canon of inspiration. It is but little we have been enabled to glean from it. We have

hardly penetrated below the surface of an exhaustless mine. If, however, the reader

has, for the first time, been led to view the offerings as so many varied exhibitions of

the great Sacrifice, and if he is led to cast himself at the feet of the great Teacher, to

learn more of the living depths of these things, I cannot but feel that an end has been

gained for which we may well feel deeply thankful.”37

36

Galatians 6:1 37


George Morrish, 24 Warwick Lane, London, page 140.

137

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER

Leviticus 23:5-14, Exodus 13:1-16, Deuteronomy 16:1-8

At this point our attention will turn towards the five great Jewish festivals, which

occurred at the same time each year. The sacrifices were part of the tabernacle

worship and were presented daily for the most part. The feasts on the other hand

while having their focus upon the sanctuary were celebrated annually; the time of year

being significant in each case. The sacrifices were presented, usually by the priest,

and were associated with one worshipper at a given time. The feasts, however, were

celebrated by the entire nation and were therefore universal in character. In the

sacrifices we observe the private nature of faith but in the feast our perspective

changes as we view the people of God together enjoying the Lord. The public

character of the five feasts made them occasions eagerly anticipated by the people and

the celebrating of them was equally intense. Leviticus Twenty-Three as the chapter

that treats these festivals according to their order, utilises the Hebrew word

“moadeem”, translated feast. This word according to Fairbairn is clearly connected

with “meetings or places of meetings”.1 Quoting Bahr, the learned Scottish Professor

proceeded to expound the significance of “moadeem” when connected with the five

festivals:



138

“ ‘…The meeting together was in its very nature a binding of themselves in

fellowship with Jehovah; so that it was not politics and commerce that had here to do,

but the soul of the Mosaic dispensation, the foundation of the religious and political

existence of Israel, the covenant of Jehovah. To keep the people’s consciousness

alive to this; to revive, strengthen, and perpetuate it, nothing could be so well adapted

as such meetings together.’ ”2

Therefore in these feasts we observe the convocations of the ancient church. As we in

the New Testament consider the various solemnities we ought to pray that their spirit

would in a holistic manner grasp our thinking so that we would be enabled to worship

the Lord publicly with newfound reverence.

Incorporated into these feasts are “sub-festivals” which have led some to suppose that

there are more than five. The two examples are the Feast of Unleavened Bread and

the Feast of the First Fruits. A careful examination will reveal that the Feast of

Unleavened Bread occurred during the Passover and that the First Fruits were

presented, both during the Passover and Pentecost. An obvious parallel would be the

Drink Offering, which is not even mentioned in Leviticus. As this particular sacrifice

involved the presentation of food it in reality becomes categorised as a Meat Offering.

By the same token the offering of the First Fruits both at the Passover and Pentecost

were special Meat Offerings as food was presented. This has led Andrew Jukes to

include them in his chapter on the Meat Offering and he was certainly justified in so

doing.



139

It is true, however, that the weekly Sabbath, the Sabbatical Year and the Year of

Jubilee can be properly styled feasts which would increase their number from five to

eight. I believe it is fair, however, to group the annual celebrations together due to the

common yearly strand that unites them.

As with the sacrifices there is a progressive revelation of truth to be found in the

feasts. Where the offerings detailed in type the believer’s devotion towards Christ the

festivals reveal the various aspects of the Christian’s deliverance through the power of

the Lord. This particular chapter will focus upon our redemption through Christ,

which is the chief picture presented by the Feast of the Passover. This feast was

instituted on the night when the children of Israel escaped from Egypt and was

thereafter celebrated as an everlasting memorial to their deliverance from the house of

bondage. Benjamin Keach observed, “this one legal sacrament preached, not

obscurely, to the ancient Jews the whole doctrine of the gospel.”3 Let us now look at

this whole doctrine of the gospel, as it is present in the ancient rite.

In the first instance I wish to consider the timing of the Feast of the Passover. It was

the first major celebration of the Jewish calendar taking place in the month Abib

which corresponds to April. Abib, however, was the first month in the Hebrew year

and the Passover always began on the fourteenth day and continued until the twenty-

first day. At the beginning of the year the mind of the ancient Jew was trained to

consider afresh with thankful remembrance the mercies of the Lord in bringing them

out of Egypt. What better way to begin a New Year than to consider our redemption

3 Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible, Keach, Benjamin,

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 995

140

through Christ? Certainly the Lord would wish that we praise him for his mercies

continually.

The connection, which this feast has with the number seven, is also deeply significant.

From the fourteenth day to the twenty-first day (both multiples of seven) the Passover

continued for a full seven days. As we shall observe throughout these studies into the

feasts the number seven is a recurring theme. As seven is the number of completion

in the scriptures the lesson is simple where the Passover is concerned; the Christian

has a complete and perfect redemption in Christ to which nothing can be added:

“...ye are complete in him”.4

In the second place I wish to contemplate the elements in the Passover feast. As far as

I can ascertain there were three major aspects to this particular festival. The first

involved the slaying of a lamb, which was subsequently eaten. This creature, the

Paschal Lamb, is the root of all the Biblical metaphors and similes that associate

Christ with the lamb. Isaiah, for example, referred to the future Messiah as being

“brought as a lamb to the slaughter….”.5 The faithful remnant among the Jews, prior

to Christ’s arrival, certainly associated their Messiah with the lamb as John the

Baptist’s great introduction proves, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the

sin of the world”.6 Even in the Apocalypse John’s view of the Saviour of men was of

“a Lamb as it had been slain”.7 Undoubtedly the clearest reference which links the

Passover to Christ is found in the words of Paul to Corinth, “For even Christ our

4 Colossians 2:10

5 Isaiah 53:6

6 John 1:29

7 Revelation 5:6

141

Passover sacrificed for us.”8 The metaphor of the lamb certainly fixes our minds upon

the vicarious sacrifice of Christ as the selected references clearly indicate. It was part

of God’s sovereign plan that the Lord should offer himself for our sins at the time of

the Passover. On that particular year the ancient rite was celebrated legitimately for

the final time as the glorious antitype ascended Calvary’s hill to procure redemption

for men. As Christ was indeed sacrificed in the mind of God before the foundation of

the earth Jehovah instituted the Passover in the month Abib with Calvary in his

thoughts. The Passover was not merely about an ancient ritual, it was ultimately

about God orchestrating events to bring about the redemption of man through the

shedding of his lamb. It is significant that the Passover Lamb was slain in the evening

of the fourteenth day. As the darkness fell and the knives were wielded Jehovah’s

mind was fixed on a greater darkness when the Lamb of God would suffer the sword

of divine justice.

The Passover lamb was singled out from among the flock on the tenth day of the first

month.9 The general truth to be drawn from this fact is that our Lord was identified as

the one who would die for men in the eternal covenant of grace. I think it is also

consistent to argue that the Lord was selected not only as God’s Son but also as a

Jewish man. The scriptures refer to him as being “raised up of your brethren”10

and as

being “made like unto his brethren”.11

He was taken from out of the flock of Israel as

the last great Passover Lamb. This is certainly a major reason why the Gentile

Church should never lightly dismiss the idea of God having a future redemptive

8 1 Corinthians 5:7

9 Exodus 12:3

10 Acts 3:22

11 Hebrews 2:17

142

purpose for the Jews in the last days of the world. After all, was Jesus not a Jew

himself?

It was required that the lamb be without blemish and be a male of the first year.

Again we have the concept, as we had it in the sacrifices, of perfect Saviour but the

male without blemish presents him as one in the full maturity and strength of

manhood. Arthur Pink quoting from another wrote on this point:

“ ‘The age of the sacrifice is prescribed. It is to be a male of the first year. The

Hebrew phrase is a male, a son of a year; it is to be one year old. The lamb was not

to be too young or too old. It was to die in the fullness if its strength. If we ask how

that might apply to Christ, we note that this particular may be fully sustained as a

description of Him. For he died for us, not in old age, nor in childhood, or in

boyhood, or in youth, but in the fullness of his opening manhood’ (Urquart). In the

language of Messianic prediction, Christ was cut off ‘in the midst’ of His days (Psalm

102:24)”12

Intrinsic to the concept of the Passover lamb was the atonement through the blood.

The blood was to be taken and struck on the two side posts of the house on the

Passover night to provide the Hebrews with a covering as the death angel swept

through Egypt. Jehovah proceeded then to say, “And the blood shall be to you for a

token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,

and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of

12

Gleanings In Exodus, Pink, Arthur W., Moody Press, Chicago, 1981. Page 89.

143

Egypt.”13

When Moses related the Lord’s word to the people he again emphasises the

importance of the blood in the bringing salvation on what would be a truly dreadful

night of sorrow, “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in

the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the

bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For

the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood

upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will

not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”14

Arthur Pink in his simple elegant style captured the importance of the blood where the

Passover was concerned:

“God’s eye was not upon the house, but on the blood. It might have been a lofty

house, a strong house, a beautiful house; this made no difference; if there was no

blood there judgment entered and did its deadly work. Its height, its strength, its

magnificence availed nothing, if the blood was lacking. On the other hand, the house

might be a miserable hovel, falling to pieces with age and decay; but no matter if the

blood was upon its door, those within were perfectly safe.

Nor was God’s eye upon those within the house. They might be lineal descendents of

Abraham, they might have been circumcised on the eighth day, and in their outward

life they might have been walking blamelessly so far as the Law was concerned. But

it was neither their genealogy nor their ceremonial observances, nor their works,

13

Exodus 12:13 14

Exodus 12:22-23

144

which secured deliverance from God’s judgments. It was their personal application of

the blood, and of that alone.”15

In order for the blood to be efficacious it first of all had to be shed and then, secondly,

it was necessary that it be applied to the outside frame of the doorway. While it was

essential that the blood of Christ be shed for the sinners it is of equal importance that

the same blood be applied to the soul though the exercise of faith alone. This is

exactly what Paul expounded when writing to the Romans, “…propitiation through

faith in his blood”.16

The wrath of God has been turned away but the sinner must trust

the blood for salvation in order to escape the coming day of wrath. The blood upon

the doorway represented satisfied justice. An innocent party had died in that home

and the death angel could not stop there on the Passover night. We enjoy today in

substance what ancient Jew experienced in shadow as Paul again wrote, “In whom we

have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of

his grace”.17

The second major element of the Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After

the sacrificing of the lamb and the subsequent feast each family spent seven days

abstaining from leaven. It is clear from the scriptures that leaven in virtually every

place represents corruption in scripture. The Lord on one occasion rather bewildered

the disciples by warning them to, “…beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and

Sadducees.” As the Saviour unfolded the meaning of his words, however, they

perceived that he was referring to spiritual as opposed to literal leaven, “Then

understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the

15

Gleanings In Exodus, Pink, Arthur W., Moody Press, Chicago, 1981. Page 84. 16

Romans 3:25 17

Ephesians 1:7

145

doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Saducees.”18

In Luke the Saviour employed the

metaphor of the leaven to condemn the Pharisees even more strongly than in

Matthew, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.” The

Apostle Paul took up a similar theme when urging the Corinthians to discipline a

member who was living immorally and in so doing makes a considered link with the

Feast of the Passover:

“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole

lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are

unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep

the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but

with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”19

Maintaining formal church fellowship with one whose life is bringing God’s name

into disrepute is to allow the corrupting influence of the leaven to filter through the

entire congregation. When writing to the Galatians Paul made use of this metaphor

with reference the believer’s personal walk with the Lord as opposed to the public

testimony of the church, as was the case in Corinth. The Christians of Galatia had lost

their warmth and enthusiasm for the cause of Christ. The Apostle was greatly

concerned about this as he wrote, “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should

not obey the truth.” Afterwards he introduced the injunction, “A little leaven

leaveneth the whole lump”.20

The warning is clear, if the professing Christian permits

the world into his life in a seemingly innocuous fashion there is no telling where that

might lead. The leaven of sin must not be tolerated if we are earnest in following

18

Matthew 16:6,12 19

1 Corintians 5:6-8 20

Galatians 5:9

146

Christ. On the Passover night the Hebrew people left the leaven behind them in

Egypt, “And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their

kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.”21

Therefore

the leaven represented old Egypt, which they separated from on the night of their

redemption. Redemption not only signifies forgiveness of sin but it also delivers us

from the old life. As those who have received the benefits of the slain lamb let us not

be guilty of bringing spiritual Egypt into the fellowship of the saints and manifesting

its characteristics in our individual lives. The Feast of Unleavened Bread associates

redemption with personal and ecclesiastical separation. Andrew Bonar wrote on this

point:

“The passover was the cause, the feast of unleavened bread the effects of their

deliverance from the grasp of Egypt…Unleavened bread was thus a mark of begun

deliverance.”22

C.H. Mackintosh rather perceptively, in my opinion, considers the two-fold emphasis

upon no “servile work”23

being conducted during the eating of the unleavened bread

with the following application:

“The practical holiness of God’s people is not servile labour. It is the living unfolding

of Christ, through them, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”24

21

Exodus 12:34 22

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 399,400. 23

Leviticus 23:7-8 24


George Morrish, 24 Warwick Lane, London, page 310

147

There are believers who make hard work out holiness so much so that they seem to

have lost their joy. Mackintosh’s point, however, is important because where there is

godliness flowing from a reliance upon the slain lamb there will be enjoyment and a

recognisable beauty. This is the testimony every believer would wish to promote.

The third element in the Feast of the Passover was the presenting of the sheaf of the

first fruits. This would have been a portion of the barley harvest as this was produced

its yield in April, the corresponding season of the Passover. This sheaf was presented

on the “morrow after the Sabbath”25

during the Passover week. This was most

significant because it corresponded to the exact day when Christ would rise again

from the dead. We know, for example that Jesus died during the Feast of the

Passover, which logically means that he rose again on the day after the Sabbath of that

week. With reference to Christ’s resurrection the New Testament describes him as

being “the firstfruits”.26

After his sacrificial death as the Lamb of God he arose and

the resurrection was the proof that the Father accepted him. Therefore as the sheaf

was waved “to be accepted”27

, Christ came forth from the darkness of the tomb as one

whose propitiation was approved. The term “first fruits, however, would indicate that

there is a further harvest still to be reaped. When the sheaf was presented there was

an implicit promise that more would follow. The resurrection of Christ makes it

certain that all those for whom he died will rise again at the last day:

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in

his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming”.

25

Leviticus 23:10 26

1Corinthians 15:20. 27

Leviticus 23:11

148

Therefore Andrew Bonar commented, “And He stood, on our earth, and in our nature,

not for Himself, personally so much as “first-fruits”-pledge and earnest of all the

harvest; because He was accepted by the Lord, therefore shall we also be.”28

In our consideration of the Feast of the Passover I wish, in the third instance to look

into the observance of this rite. As always in considering these ancient types we must

remember that while the ceremonies have passed away into the mists of ancient

history there remains much that we can learn from the reverence of the Hebrew

people as they worshipped God. The manner in which the Passover was observed is

particularly ripe with simple, yet meaningful lessons for the New Testament Church.

This ordinance was observed with humility; “And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon

thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in

thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. Thou

shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year”.29

There is no

room for pride in the worship of God. There must be a humble dependence upon the

grace of God without which we have no opportunity to enter his presence.

There was also a note of gladness as the Jews celebrated this feast; “And Moses said

unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the

house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place:

there shall no leavened bread be eaten.”30

With humility they recalled what God had

done but with joy they remembered that they were no longer in the land of servitude.

Praise must be based upon doctrinal truth and not merely upon emotional ecstasy.

28


Exodus 13:9 30

Exodus 13:3

149

The sheer fact that the people of God have been “delivered” out of the “power of

darkness” and have been “translated…into the kingdom of his dear son”31

ought to be

the fill each one with “joy unspeakable and full of glory”.32

A failure to grasp the

extent of gospel deliverance causes many believers to live in spiritual bondage and

they therefore never benefit from worship, as they should. The Lord has intended

public and private exercises of worship, however, to be what the Psalmist wrote of:

“…in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures

forevermore”.33

These ancient believers also consecrated both themselves and their children to the

Lord as they commemorated the Passover. This consecration was symbolised by the

sanctifying of the first born at this particular season; “That thou shalt set apart unto

the LORD all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which

thou hast; the males shall be the LORD’S.”34

Worship is meaningless if there is not a

full surrender of soul and body to the will of God. Those who withhold from the Lord

will not realise the divine purpose fulfilled in their lives. What was truly significant

about the consecration at the Passover, however, was the manner in which the entire

family was involved:

“And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by

this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who

passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the

31

Colossians 1:13 32

1 Peter 1:18 33

Psalm 16:11 34

Exodus 13:12

150

Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and

worshipped.”35

This certainly calls every parent to present their children to the Lord by instructing

them faithfully in spiritual truth. Above all means of instruction that may be provided

by the church nothing can replace family worship in the home where all the children

are taught the scriptures by the lips of their parents and where the family unit gathers

for daily prayer. This institution has been the cause of much blessing and there is no

doubt but the neglect of it opens a way for the world and the flesh to cause havoc

within the home.

In the final instance I wish to examine the prospect from the Feast of the Passover.

While the festivity had a historic bearing it also had a prophetic perspective:

“For what Bacon said of history in general – ‘All history is prophecy’ – holds with

special application to such portions of it. They are the manifestations of God’s

character in His relation to His covenant people; and that character being

unchangeably the same, He cannot but be inclined substantially to repeat for them in

the future what He has done in the past.”36

While Fairbairn quite rightly emphasised the prophetic import of the Passover as

being the crucifixion of Christ as the Lamb of God, which we have already considered

I feel that this ancient feast also anticipates the Lord’s Supper. Of all the Jewish rites

35

Exodus 12:26-27 36



151

the Feast of the Passover is the one, which remains with the New Testament Church

in a tangible manner. The Lord, on the eve of his passion, instituted the Lord’s

Supper by leading his disciples in what would be his final Passover Feast. On that

sacred occasion he brake the bread saying, “Take, eat; this is my body”, and after

giving the cup he solemnly declared, “For this is the blood of the new testament,

which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”37

By making such statements

which were not in keeping with the normal Jewish Passover the Lord was

transforming the ancient ritual into a New Testament sacrament which the Church

will forever enjoy until the his glorious appearance.

It was commanded that the Jews eat the Passover with bitter herbs38

which certainly

teaches us that while we enjoy the Communion Feast we must do so solemnly being

conscious of our sin and need of forgiveness. The Larger Catechism of the

Westminster Standards the divines posed the question, “How are they that receive the

sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to prepare themselves before they come to it?”, to

which they replied, “…examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and

wants, of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance, love to God and

the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong, of their

desires after Christ, and of their new obedience, and by renewing the exercise of these

graces, by serious meditation and fervent prayer”39

. No believer is to partake of the

elements lightly but rather he is to use them as an opportunity to deal honestly with

his sin and to seek fresh assurance for his soul.

37

Matthew 26:26-28 38

Exodus 12:8 39

Westminster Standards, Larger Catechism, Question 171.

152

At the Passover the lamb was the main course, which was consumed by the gathered

family. The Lord’s Supper certainly supplies the people of God with spiritual food.

While Protestants have rightly condemned the idolatry of the mass they have also in

some cases swung to the opposite extreme in not appreciating the spiritual feasting

upon Christ, which is a vital element of the sacrament. The Westminster Divines

stressed this aspect of the sacrament in their confession:

“Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament, do

then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but

spiritually, receive and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of His death: the

body and blood of Christ being then, not corporally or carnally, in, with, or under the

bread and wine; yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that

ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.”40

There is a supply of spiritual vigour available to those who receive the elements in the

proper attitude of soul as intended by the Lord. The church must claim the

sanctifying effects of this feast for her benefit and the glory of God.

The Passover is remarkably similar to the Communion Feast in that it had both a

backward and a forward look. The Passover was a memorial to the deliverance out of

Egypt while at the same time it anticipated the cross. The Lord’s Supper on the other

hand recalls the sacrifice of our Lord as well as being a visible token that the Saviour

will one day return to earth. Paul highlighted this dual aspect to the sacrament:

40

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 29 section 7

153

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till

he come.”41

As certainly as the Passover passed away with the death of our Lord so the

Communion Feast will be no longer required when Christ returns in glory. The

emblems will be of no value then because the one whom they represent will be

physically present with the Church for eternity. The annual Passover was replaced by

the Lord’s Supper, but this feast will give way to the eternal festivity around the

“marriage supper of the Lamb”.42

It is striking that this scene of the final triumph of

the saints does have a particular resemblance to the Passover Feast. This too was a

supper and it involved a lamb. There is one major difference; the Lamb in glory will

be one who declares, “1 am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for

evermore”43

. If the Passover resembled victory the Lord’s Table is a hundred fold

more triumphant. If the Passover sounded a note of hope then the Communion Feast

assures the Church post Calvary to an even greater degree because now we are

anticipating the eternal blessedness, which the ancient saints saw even more dimly:

“Feast after feast thus comes and passes by,

Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above,

Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,

The Lamb’s great bridal feast of bliss and love

Horatius Bonar, 1808-89”44

41


Revelation 19:9 43

Revelation 1:17 44



154

CHAPTER NINE

THE FEAST OF PENTECOST

Leviticus 23:15-22, Deuteronomy 16:9-12, Deuteronomy 26, Acts 2

This was the second feast of the Jewish calendar. In the Old Testament it is normally

called the Feast Of Weeks because it fell 7 weeks after the grain offering was

presented during the Passover.1 The worshipper was personally responsible for

numbering the forty-nine days and on the fiftieth day Pentecost took place. This too

was a harvest feast, taking place during the ingathering of the wheat (barley was

reaped at the Passover). While we will of course be examining the various aspects of

this feast in this chapter, I wish primarily to focus upon the attitude and spirit of the

worshipper. This I feel is important because Pentecost will forever be associated with

the greatest outpouring of the spirit the church has ever known. This outpouring as

well as being the greatest revival of true religion is also the basis for every other

awakening the church has and will yet experience. Therefore it is fitting that in these

studies upon the deliverance enjoyed by the believer, from the ancient feasts, that we

progress from redemption through Christ, in the Passover, to revival by Christ, as

manifested in the Feast of Pentecost. Part of Jehovah’s unquestionable plan for his

redeemed church is that she enjoys revival at particular seasons. This is something

the Scripture’s would teach us to seek after with great fervency, especially in a day of

apostasy from the truth. This subject ought to inspire the people of God to pray as did

1 Leviticus 23:15

155

the Psalmist when he saw the enemy triumph, “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy

face to shine; and we shall be saved.”2

As with the Passover the time of year when Pentecost was celebrated was not without

significance. The Lord died during the feast of the Passover and rose again on the day

when the first fruits of the barley harvest were presented before God. Then after the

numbering of 7 complete weeks from the resurrection the Holy Spirit fell the day of

Pentecost. As these two events, the resurrection and the events on the Day of

Pentecost, are historical facts, who can possibly deny that the precise manner in which

their timing corresponded with the ancient feasts was orchestrated by a sovereign

God? Take the revival in Jerusalem for example. It was a spontaneous event

witnessed by thousands of individuals and whose power touched and influenced the

early church everywhere. Such an event could not possibly have been staged by the

disciples, its dynamic was obviously beyond human organisation. Therefore we are

forced to the conclusion that the Feast of Pentecost was celebrated seven complete

weeks after the Passover because this would be the occasion when the Holy Ghost

would fall upon the early Church.

This obvious link between the two feasts shows their interdependence both

historically and, more importantly, theologically. As the Passover necessarily

preceded Pentecost, redemption is the basis of revival. Reviving by the Holy Ghost is

a boon purchased for the church by the shedding of the blood of Christ, the antitype of

the Paschal Lamb.

2 Psalm 80:3

156

Proceeding now to look at the worship of Jehovah at the time of Pentecost I wish in

the first place to examine the consecration of the worshipper from Leviticus Chapter

Twenty-three.3 As the first fruits of the barley harvest were offered at the Passover,

Pentecost involved the first fruits from the wheat fields. The obvious lesson here is

that the worshipper was acknowledging that all his produce came from the hand of

God and gratitude had, therefore to be expressed. Unlike the Passover where the first

fruits were an important yet peripheral ingredient, at Pentecost they were at the heart

of the festivity. This is evident from the various names attributed to this feast as

Professor Fairbairn pointed out:

“In Ex. 33:16 it is called ‘the Feast of Harvest’, because it was kept at the close of the

whole harvest, wheat as well as barley-the intervening weeks between it and the

passover forming the season of harvest. And in the same passage, as again in Num.

28:26, it was also called ‘the Feast of the First-Fruits’, because it was the occasion

when the Israelites were to present to God the first-fruits of their crop, as now actually

realised and laid up for use.”4

The ancient saints were acutely aware that honouring God with their material

possessions was vital if they were to experience prosperity in the future. The wisest

of men recognised this as he alluded to Pentecost in his appeal to his son, “Honour the

Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy

barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”5 These

ancients presented their first fruits acknowledging that even their material laboured

3 Leviticus 23:15-22


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 448-449. 5 Proverbs 3:9-10

157

required the mercy of Jehovah if it was to be profitable. Consecration is a most

practical topic and it impacts upon the physical as well as the spiritual. If an

individual is walking with God in his heart he will without a doubt surrender all his

life to God. While it is true that our prayers, our studies and our worship requires

God’s blessing, the same is equally true of our careers, our finances and our

possessions. It is certainly logical to conclude that this kind of consecration is the link

between redemption and revival. If the believer redeemed with precious blood is to

experience revival he needs to surrender his whole being to Jehovah. C.H. Spurgeon

stressed this very point, when preaching upon this Jewish feast, with the remarks:

“When you are saved, when you have entered into rest, when you have considered

and deliberated, then renew your vows unto the Lord, make your consecration more

large, and full and deliberate, and dedicate yourself and all that you have unto the

Lord who has given you all things richly to enjoy. You have already, in the short time

since you have known the sprinkled blood, obtained a harvest of joy and peace:

therefore delay not to bring a worthy portion unto the Lord, and say unto him, ‘Thou

hast set me free, and made me to be thy servant, and now I offer to thee all that I am

and all that I have, for thou hast bought me with thy precious blood.’

‘Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all!’”6

6 Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 30, Spurgeon, C.H.,

Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena, Texas, 1985. Page 302.

158

As the worshipper approached God on the Day of Pentecost, however, the tokens of

his consecration differed somewhat from what was presented seven weeks previous.

Then it was the sheaf which was waved before the Lord whereas on this occasion it

was baked loaves:

“Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall

be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the

LORD.”7

They key to understanding this type is found in the use of leaven, which contrasted

sharply with the prohibition of leaven during the Passover solemnities. As leaven is a

type of sin, as was proved in the previous chapter, we therefore view God’s people

offering themselves as sincere yet sinful creatures. On the Day of Pentecost when the

disciple in tarried in the upper room they did so as a men and women tainted with

many imperfections. The Lord, however, took up the weak vessels and endued them

with his power in order that they might be equipped to propagate the gospel of Christ.

The leaven, however, was not presented alone but was rather mixed with the flour

which evidently a type of Christ. The Saviour during his earthly ministry employed

the metaphor of bread to define and describe himself:

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never

hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”8

7 Leviticus 23:17

8 John 6:35

159

Our offering of self to the Lord is only made effectual as our lives are united to the

righteousness of Christ, the perfect servant. This is borne out, furthermore, by the

priestly presentation of these loaves; “And the priest shall wave them with the bread

of firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord…”.9 While our consecration must be

united to the righteousness of our Lord it is also necessary that our Great High Priest

presents it constantly in his intercession. God sends revival not merely because of

man’s devotion but ultimately because of the work of Christ through and for man.

The loaves presented numbered two. In scripture this denotes the witness of the

church. In Revelation for example we are told of the two witnesses who were as “the

two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth”.9 The church is the light

whose duty is to reflect the glory of Christ in a dark world. There are times when the

people of God are miserable representations of the Lord and a result the glow from the

lamps becomes dim. When revival breaks forth, however, the church shines bright

and she is transformed into a testimony, which attracts the world in their multitudes to

the foot of the cross. This is what transpired at Pentecost and the result was a fearless

church going forward to bear witness to the glories of her Saviour as the action of the

apostles both while meeting the Sanhedrin and after being beaten by them aptly

illustrate:

“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather

than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a

tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to

give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these

9 Leviticus 23:20

9 Revelation 11:4

160

things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey

him…And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were

counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every

house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”10

The transformation from the men who fled from the garden while their master was

hauled before his accusers is incredible. What made the difference? They

surrendered their all to Christ and the power of the spirit gave them new boldness to

testify of Christ.

In addition to the offering of the loaves it was also necessary that beasts were

sacrificed at the time of Pentecost. There was a Burnt Offering that consisted of

seven lambs, one young bullock and two rams. A Sin Offering was also presented

where one kid of the goats was required. Finally two lambs of the first year were

sacrificed as a Peace Offering. As the normal Meat Offering was also presented, four

of the five grades of sacrifice were presented on the Day of Pentecost. As these

offerings were designed to deal with the sin of man the worshipper was reminded of

his own unworthiness as he did obeisance during this feast. Consecration does of

necessity consist of confession of a desire for cleansing that the believer might have

the “clean heart” and the “right spirit” which David yearned for.11

The consecration at this time was to be of an entirely selfless nature. The corners of

the field were not to be stripped and the pieces, which fell from the hands of the

10

Acts 5:29-32, 41-42 11

Psalm 51:10

161

reapers were not to be gathered to enable the poor to derive benefit from the harvest.12

Therefore while the first fruits were presented to man there was also this “love gift”

for those without the means to make provision. The Lord in these ancient times

considered welfare an important issue and entrusted it into the hands of individuals

and made it a spiritual matter as opposed to being a purely material concern. The

institutionalising of welfare into Government funded schemes while having many

benefits makes the provision for the poor abstract rather than being personal. It is also

true that such schemes are purely practical and have no spiritual emphasis. God’s

original plans were so much more simplistic. God was worshipped through the giving

supplying of provision for the poor and the farmer knew precisely who was coming to

glean from his field. Nor did the poor receive their benefits as a mere “hand out”.

They had to go out and work in the fields looking and gathering the gleanings that

were left behind. God in his wisdom knows that men need to work for the sake of

their sanity. Therefore he tailored the provision to suit the needs of his creation. It is

widely recognised that self-help schemes are the best way in which to help those from

under developed countries. This is not a new discovery, however, because God had

devised such schemes in times past.

The early church recognised the importance of making practical provision for others.

Therefore we learn of men such as Barnabas who sold possession and laid the money

at the feet of the apostles for redistribution among the needy.13

This principle was

repeated in the apostolic exhortations such as we observe in Paul’s letters to the

Galatians, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially

12

Leviticus 23:22 13

Acts 4:34-37

162

unto them who are of the household of faith.”14

If we are to walk the path of

consecration then we will manifest a true concern for the needs of fellow man. As

with the Feast of Pentecost this is no more mere display of practical generosity but it

is essentially an act of worship. The believer who loves the Lord will manifest that

loving concern towards others. This does not mean that the church is to transform

herself into a social welfare organisation. If the ancient Jew gave away more of his

harvest than what was required but did not bring his first fruits and offer his sacrifices

then he had failed because the needs of man superseded the requirements of God. If

the church has is prioritised her doctrine and discipline then there ought to be a place

for acts of practical kindness in her witness.

Having therefore examined the consecration of the worshipper I wish to progress

secondly to his conduct. Deuteronomy Twenty-Six is most helpful in this regard

because there the spirituality of the Jew on the occasion of Pentecost is very much in

vogue. The offerer is presented as one who fills his basket with the produce of the

earth and brings it to the priest in the place of worship. As he comes he offers a

confession, which is most reminiscent of a modern testimony.

In his confession this worshipper made a public profession of his faith in God, “I

profess this day unto the Lord thy God…”. It is most scriptural for the Christian to

publicly acknowledge his faith in God. Baptism, Communion and admission to

church membership are examples of opportunities available to God’s people to

declare publicly their interest in Jesus Christ. The Bible knows nothing of secret

disciples because salvation is not a private matter, “That if thou shalt confess with thy

14

Galatians 6:10

163

mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from

the dead, thou shalt be saved.”15

He also made of full confession of his former condition and of the delivering power of

God in redeeming the Hebrew people.16

After offering this confession the Jew was

compelled to “worship before the Lord thy God.”17

It is most profitable for the people

of God to take stock of their past and of the miraculous nature of their deliverance

form the grasp of Satan. Such contemplations are indicative of revival when believers

are melted by the sheer weight of God’s wondrous grace and redoubtable mercies.

The Hebrew devotee was then enabled to rejoice having engaged in this feast of joy

and praise:

“And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto

thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.”18

Let us dispel the myth that devotion to the Lord is indicative of one who is miserable

and downcast. This Jew had brought the first fruits of his harvest to Jehovah and

afterwards he had the right to enjoy everything that God had provided him. If we

withhold from God what is his we have no right to any enjoyments in life. If we steal

from the Lord and rob him of his glory the little happiness that crosses our paths are

hollow and fleeting. Writing to Timothy Paul touched on this very issue, “Charge

them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain

15

Romans 10:9 16

Deuteronomy 26:5-9 17

Deuteronomy 26:10 18

Deuteronomy 26:11

164

riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”19

The rich

believer who put his wealth first was leaning on that which was unsteady. If he on the

other hand leaned hard upon the Lord he could enjoy those riches because God had

given them to him for that very purpose. True worship is about positioning the

various aspects of life in an order that is pleasing to the Lord. Such a reordering of

our affairs is ultimately produced by the quickening spirit and is suggestive of revival.

In the final place I wish to uncover the confidence of the worshipper at the Feast of

Pentecost. Obviously the presentation of the first fruit was an act of faith on the part

of the worshipper that the full harvest was yet to arrive. Or to consider the matter

another way, the arrival of the initial yield was the Lord’s promise that there would be

a further crop to be garnered. This in itself was an incentive to exercise faith and

come with the offering at the time of Pentecost. The revival at the Feast of Pentecost

in Acts Two was the first fruits of every subsequent revival in the history of the

church. Pentecost was in effect God showing the Church in every age that there is

more to follow. Therefore Christians today can pray in faith that God would once

again pour out his Spirit because the pattern has been prepared by the divine hand.

Bearing in mind that the after harvest would always have the same essential

characteristics as the first fruits it is therefore consistent to look into the revival in

Acts Two in order that we can learn what true revival is. The church can only begin

praying for revival when she has been instructed as to the substance of the first fruits.

Revival can therefore only be orchestrated by the power of the Holy Ghost. On one

occasion when the resurrected Lord met his disciples he actually breathed on them

19

1 Timothy 6:17

165

saying, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”20

The events in Jerusalem in the wake of

Christ’s ascension were the result of these words; the Holy Ghost had indeed come.

When the Spirit fell, however, Luke records that “they were all filled with the Holy

Ghost…”.21

There is a distinction between revival and the infilling of the Spirit of

God. The infilling is an individual blessing and one which the Christian is

commanded to seek after; “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be

filled with the Spirit”.22

Revival on the other hand is a corporate affair when a

company of Christians whether that be a local assembly, a denomination or an entire

nation receives a special endowment of power. While there is a distinction the two

are united in that there can be no revival without Christians being filled with the Holy

Ghost. Also, one of the marks of an awakening is that virtually every Christian is

filled with the Spirit at the same time. An interest in revival will therefore be evident

when there is a desire for the infilling of the blessed Comforter

The revival in Acts Two was the result of long hours being expended in prayer. In so

doing the followers of our Lord fulfilled his command, “And, behold, I send the

promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be

endued with power from on high.”23

Church history teaches that where there have

been revivals there has also been passionate intercessions. The revival which has

become the Holy Ghost’s blueprint was also an awakening characterised by the

preaching of God’s word. The sermon must not be marginalized in church life

because preaching is the means whereby Go manifests his word.24

The Protestant

Reformation, the greatest revival since Pentecost, was characterised by a renewed

20

John 20:22 21

Acts 2:4 22

Ephesians 5:18 23

Luke 24:49 24

Titus 1:3

166

interest in preaching and expounding the word of truth. In every awakening of true

religion preachers were the key figures as God blessed his truth to many hearts.

Neglecting the centrality of preaching is to neglect the sacred topic of revival.

The result of the revival on the Day of Pentecost was the conversion of “three

thousand souls”25

and the adding of souls daily to the church in the ensuing days.26

While revival occurs among the people of God it always results in the souls of the lost

coming to know Christ as Saviour in remarkable numbers. Therefore the work of God

is built up and preserved for a future generation.

“Visit us, Lord, with revival:

Stricken with coldness and death

Where is our hope of survival

Save in thy life-giving breath?

Horace E. Govan, 1866-1932”27

25

Acts 2:41 26

Acts 2:47 27



167

CHAPTER TEN

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

Leviticus 23:23-25, Numbers 29:1-10

This chapter brings us to the seventh month in the Jewish calendar, which marked

holy and serious ceremonies. Three feasts occurred at this time, the Feast of

Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. This month we might

say was a sabbatical month just as the seventh day was a sabbatical day. It appears

that Jehovah set the seventh month aside for serious spiritual reflection. It is also

significant that while the first month marked the beginning of the spiritual year the

seventh month was the commencement of the civil or the secular year.1 On the

seventh month; the ark rested upon Ararat2; the Sabbatical Year, one in every seven

and the Year of Jubilee, one in every fifty, commenced3; the ark was brought to the

temple;4 the returned captives began worshipping God in Jerusalem;

5 Ezra ministered

during the revival in Jerusalem.6 Therefore this month is associated with spiritual

renewal throughout Old Testament times. This most significant month in the Jewish

calendar commenced with the Feast of Trumpets.

The distinctive tones of the two silver trumpets, which were kept in the tabernacle,

were sounded to call the people to worship during all of the solemn feast days:


2 Genesis 8:4

3 Leviticus 25

4 1 Kings 8

5 Ezra 3

6 Nehemiah 8

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“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of

your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the

sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your

God: I am the LORD your God.”7

It would appear, however, that throughout the first day of the seventh month the

trumpet may have had greater volume or may have been heard with higher degree of

regularity. Certainly there can be no doubt that the trumpets were so elevated on this

occasion that the feast received the name of the instrument. The key to understanding

this day is the word “memorial”.8 The blowing of trumpets throughout the day was

intended to remind God’s people of something important. The theme therefore of this

study will be remembrance of Christ.

In the first place I wish to consider the retrospective nature of the Feast of Trumpets.

The Jews, historically regarded this day as a time for reflection. John Gill, that noted

expert in the customs of God’s ancient people and the teaching of the Rabbis

observes:

“…it was generally thought by the Jews ,and by others, that the world was created,

and this blowing of trumpets might be in memory of that, and as an emblem of the

shoutings of the sons of God, the angels, the morning stars, who sang for joy when the

foundations of the earth were laid, (Job 38:6,7);”9

7 Numbers 10:10

8 Leviticus 23:24

9 Esword Bible Commentary. Downloaded from esword.net.

169

This was most appropriate because this feast occurred at a time corresponding to the

end of September or the beginning of October, when the people rejoiced that God had

once again provided to supply the winter months.

It is also true that the trumpets’ blasts caused the people to meditate upon the giving

of the law at Sinai, where this instrument was also heard as God came down to speak

with Moses. Rev W. Harvey Jellie noted this facet of the feast:

“The sounding of the trumpet from morning to evening would remind Israel of the

time when the sound of the trumpet called attention to the promulgation of these

statutes, in the observance of which they would please Jehovah, and show to the

world that they were His people. The feast would call attention to the divine voice,

the trumpets would proclaim his right to be heard, the imperative duty of the listeners

to hearken and obey”10

Paul when writing to the Hebrews associated the trumpet at Sinai with the fearful

voice of God, which struck terror in the hearts of the people:

“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,

nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the

voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be

spoken to them any more:”11

10

The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary, Leviticus-Numbers 15, Jellie-Brown and Jones, Funk and

Wagnalls Company, New York and London. Page 280 11

Hebrews 12:18-19

170

As the first day of the seventh month marked the beginning of a new year in the life of

the nation is natural that the trumpets would have persuaded the Jews to consider all

that that the Lord had done for them over the previous twelve months.

Certainly the timing of this feast reveals a God who condescends in understanding for

poor men who require times and dates as landmarks and bridges taking them from one

period into another. The God to who knows nothing of months and years established

this festival as an occasion for the Jewish people to reflect upon the past and in so

doing prepare for the future.

Secondly we shall proceed to contemplate the introspective character of the Feast of

Trumpets. This was a day not merely for looking back but also for looking into the

heart provoking self-examination. In the days of Moses the word “memorial” was

almost exclusively used as a reminder for present duty rather than being limited to a

recollection of past events. For example when Aaron bore the names of the tribes of

Israel upon his breastplate and on his shoulders for a memorial he was reminding God

to be gracious unto his people.12

In like fashion one of the purposes of the various

offerings was to constantly remind the Lord’s people of holy duties. It was in this

sense that the word memorial or reminder was employed throughout Leviticus. This

day in particular was a reminder to God’s people that they prepare their hearts for the

Day of Atonement, fast approaching, when God would cleanse them afresh from their

sins. The trumpets therefore called the people to repentance at the beginning of this

all-important month. Therefore special Burnt and Meat Offerings were presented at

12

Exodus 28:12,29, 39:7

171

this time to mark the solemnity of the occasion.13

It is most likely that it is the Feast

of Trumpets that is alluded to in Psalm Eighty-One:

“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast

day.”14

In ancient times the new moon marked the beginning of the month. Therefore it was

the new moon that gave the signal for the silver trumpets to be sounded from the

sanctuary on the first day of the seventh month. Therefore as the only divinely

appointed gathering to be held on the occasion of a new moon was the Feast of

Trumpets, this is what the Psalmist had in view. He describes the occasion as “a

solemn feast day” which emphasises the serious nature of the event. The solemnity of

the feast was due to it being a precursor of the Day of Atonement, which occurred on

the tenth day of the seventh month. What would transpire at time was so sacred that it

necessitated special preparation, which commenced with the Feast of Trumpets.

As the trumpets called these people to self examination God would call us to do

likewise. In various portions of scripture the voice of God is compared to the sound

of the trumpet. For example when Jehovah came down to Sinai he spoke when the

sound of the trumpet “sounded long”15

or as Matthew Poole wrote, “increased and

grew very strong, or vehement or loud.”16

Also, in the Apocalypse the apostle heard

the Lord’s voice “as of a trumpet”.17

. The trumpets sounding on this feast day

13

Numbers 29:1-6 14

Psalm 81:3 15

Exodus 19:19 16

Matthew Poole’s Commentary On The Holy Bible ,Volume One, Poole, Matthew,

MacDonald Publishing Company, McClean, Virginia. Page 157. 17

Revelation 1:10

172

typifies the voice of God calling his people together for the purpose of self-

examination in order that their hearts might be prepared. In Joel the Lord appealed,

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion”. With the blasts of the trumpet came the appeal for the

people to turn from their wicked ways in repentance:

“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with

fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your

garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to

anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil…Blow the trumpet in

Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the

congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts:

let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the

priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them

say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the

heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is

their God?”18

For the sake of the church and the nation the people of God must respond in the

affirmative in order that there be an awakening to godliness. As the Feast of

Trumpets took place under the shadow of the Day of Atonement we will know

prepared hearts only beneath the cross of our Saviour. The glorious motive for the

searching of the heart is the pains that the Saviour endured on our behalf. A legalistic

framework produces self-righteousness at the best and at the worst hypocrisy. A soul,

which sees his sin being laid on, the dear Son of God will deal with self on the

18

Joel 2:1,12-13, 15-17

173

grounds of love alone. It is the cross work of our Lord which demands self-

examination as the words concerning the Communion Feast would indicate; “But let a

man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”19

In the final instance I wish to look at the prospective nature of the Feast of Trumpets.

This ancient rite was prophetic in character, in keeping with the other spiritual

festivals. The first major event prefigured by this festival was the preaching of the

gospel. As an instrument the trumpet was associated with joy in the scriptures, as the

following quotations from the Psalms would illustrate:

“Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.”20

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice,

and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a

psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the

King.”21

In fact it is very likely that when the Psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the people that know

the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.”22

, he was

referring explicitly to the Feast of Trumpets. This view was advanced by A. R.

Faussett and quoted by Spurgeon in his “Treasury Of David”:

19


Psalm 150:3 21

Psalm 98:4-6 22

Psalm 89:15

174

“…the trumpets sounded in token of joy at the great festivals, and chiefly on the first

day of the seventh month, the feast of trumpets (Lev, 23.24)…”23

Although much solemnity was associated with this ritual there was also joy because

God was approaching his people and dealing with them in grace despite their sins.

There is no sound more joyful than the good news of the evangel. It was Paul who

wrote concerning the preacher, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the

gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”24

In the end time picture of a

world ripe for wrath, in the Apocalypse, God is still depicted as one who offers grace

to men:

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to

preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and

tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the

hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the

sea, and the fountains of waters.”25

Praise God; in this age of darkness still sounds, the gospel trumpet is heard and may

the Spirit in mercy open the hearts of many to its thrilling message.

“We have heard the joyful sound:

Jesus saves!

Spread the tidings all around:

23

Spurgeon’s Treasury of David, Volume Four Spurgeon, C.H.,

Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984. Page 178. 24

Romans 10:15 25

Revelation 14:6-7

175

Jesus saves!

Bear the news to every land,

Climb the steeps and cross the waves;

Onward! ‘tis our Lord’s command:

Jesus saves!

Priscilla Jane Owens, 1829-1907”26

The trumpet is also associated is with the preaching of the word as an instrument of

warning; “And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you,

then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the

LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.”27

The ancient trumpet

was useful for this purpose in that it created a sound that was most distinct. Patrick

Fairbairn’s comments in this regard are most instructive:

“There can be no doubt that the sacred use of the trumpet had its reason in the loud

and stirring noise in emits. Hence it is described as a cry in Leviticus 25:9 (the

English word sound there is too feeble).which was to be heard throughout the land.”28

In relation to order and harmony within the church Paul taught the Corinthians that

clarity was essential when the people of God worshipped and in so doing he employed

the ancient metaphor of the trumpet:

26


of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No. 678 27

Numbers 10:9 28


T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882, 1882. Page 448-449.

176

“For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the

battle?”29

It is most necessary that gospel is proclaimed in a way which the unconverted can

understand. The conscience of the sinner will only be awakened by distinct warnings

from faithful men of God. Jehovah compared the ancient prophet to the watchman

who had the serious responsibility of sounding the alarm when the enemy attacked.

As the watchman who did not sound the trumpet when the city was attacked would be

responsible for the resultant carnage, so the prophet who did not warn the people of

their sins would have to answer to God for the plight of poor lost souls who heard his

unfaithful ministry:

“When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not

speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but

his blood will I require at thine hand.”30

Benjamin Keach comments on this aspect of the preacher’s duty are certainly most

quotable:

“So a Minister is sometimes commanded to sound an alarm: ‘Blow the Trumpet in

Zion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain.’ (Joel 2.1). They are to pronounce wrath

and judgment, to thunder as it were from mount Sinai, to rouse up the slothful, and

29


Ezekiel 39:8

177

secure sinner, or drowsy professor; and sometimes a call to duty, to assemble the

people to fast, and cry mightily unto the Lord…”31

Furthermore, the silver trumpet in the Old Testament is associated with purity of

sound; “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth,

purified seven times”.32

The gospel as the sacred truth discovered only in the Word of

God is pure truth and is not to be mixed with error in any fashion. Therefore it is the

preacher’s privilege to proclaim not his opinions or the theorising of men but the truth

which beyond all natural philosophy.

The Feast of Trumpets not only anticipated the preaching of the gospel but it also

foreshadowed the Second Coming of Christ. In the Old Testament the trumpet on

occasions was associated with the wrath of God. The most notable examples being

the destruction of Jericho and the victory Gideon enjoyed over the Midianites:

“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass,

when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great

shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man

straight before him, and they took the city.”33

31


Kregal, U.S.A, 1972. Page 836-837. 32

Psalm 12:6 33

Joshua 6:20

178

“And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the

lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they

cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.”34

What signified wrath for the enemies of God, however, was salvation for the Hebrew

people on these occasions. The two-fold nature of the trumpets is very much in

evidence in relation to our Lord’s return to the earth. In the Apocalypse the sounding

of the trumpets in the times prior to the end of the age call down the wrath of God to

the world of sin.35

Christ, however, spoke of the Son of Man appearing in glory and

sending “…his angels with a great sound of a trumpet…” to “…gather together his

elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”36

As name title

“feast” properly signifies a gathering and as the Feast of Trumpets gathered the called

the people together the sounding of the last trumpet will bring the elect together for an

eternity of worship around the throne of God and of the Lamb. May the Lord help us

to anticipate that momentous day.

34

Judges 7:20 35

Revelation 8-11 36

Matthew 24:31

179

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Leviticus 23:26-32; Leviticus 16

This study brings us to the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. While all these feasts

were equally sacred in value there were none that brought together such a weight of

solemn ceremonies and induced such holy fear as the Day of Atonement undoubtedly

did as Fairbairn succinctly summarised:

“This day formed the most distinguishing solemnity of the seventh month, and indeed

of the whole sacrificial ritual.”1

Professor Fairbairn justified this remark by comparing the sacrifices on the tenth day

of the seventh month with the other expiatory acts of the Levitical economy:

“The main part of the Mosaic worship consisted in the presentation of sacrifice, as the

guilt of sin was perpetually calling for new acts of purification; but on this one day the

idea of atonement by sacrifice rose to its highest expression, and became concentrated

in one grand comprehensive series of actions. In suitable correspondence to this

design, the sense of sin was in like manner to be deepened to its utmost intensity in



180

the national mind, and exhibited in appropriate forms of penitential grief. It was a day

of humiliation and godly sorrow working unto repentance.”2

It is significant that the Jewish spiritual year was brought to a climax with two feasts

which first plunged the people into deep grief on the Day of Atonement before lifting

them into the heights of joy during the Feast of Tabernacles, which commenced five

days later on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Surely the lesson is clear; before

we will experience joy we must first be filled with a sense of penitential grief because

of our sins.

The purpose of this day was to assure the people of their acceptance with God.

Therefore from the ceremonies attached to the gathering we shall contemplate the

theme, reception with Christ.

As this was a most eventful occasion or a rite filled with “one grand comprehensive

series of actions” (in the words of Fairbairn) it is important in the first place to grasp

the timetable for the Day of Atonement. This is essential before we can progress to its

purpose in the spiritual life of Israel and its typical significance for the New

Testament believer. Leviticus Sixteen is the passage, which helps us piece together

the details of this sombre observance. It has been my opinion since I first discovered

the truth of this chapter that no part the Old Testament typifies the person and work of

Christ as have it here presented in the priestly code. Robert Gordon in his masterful

series of volumes entitled “Christ in the Old Testament” certainly entertained such a



181

high esteem of Leviticus Sixteen as the following taken from a sermon upon this

chapter indicate:

“But it was in the solemnities of the great day of atonement that the penitent and

devout must have seen the chief purpose, so far as they were concerned, of that

sanctuary which had been planned by divine skill, and erected under the immediate

guidance of divine teaching; for it was then they learned, what it did most nearly

concern them to know, not only that God had taken up his abode in the midst of them,

but that there was a way of access into his immediate presence, whereby, in the person

of the high priest their representative, they might draw near and find acceptance with

Him. And in the record of these solemnities we still see the same precious truth very

clearly unfolded, even now that the way into the holiest of all has been made

manifest; for I know not that there is in Scripture any one passage that does more fully

and strikingly set forth the nature, design and consequences pf Christ’s atoning

sacrifice, than the chapter from which the verses under consideration are taken.”3

Having stressed, as emphatically as possible, the importance of this chapter I wish to

outline the events of the Day of Atonement, as they are unfolded.

Aaron had suffered the death of his sons, Nadab and Abihu, as a result of their failure

to observe the laws regarding worship. The event had brought home to Aaron the

seriousness of sin and its dreadful consequences. The fearful nature of God’s dealing

with these priests had filled the camp with alarm. Therefore it was necessary that the

Day of Atonement be instituted to assure the people that they could have their sins

3 Christ in the Old Testament, Volume 2, Gordon, Robert,

Free Presbyterian Publications, Glasgow, 2002. Page 20-21.

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properly dealt with while maintaining their acceptance with God. Before a hushed

gathering Aaron appeared leading a bullock, for a sin offering, and a ram, for a burnt

offering, to make satisfaction for the sins of his own house. The High Priest then

dressed in plain white linen garments and purified his flesh with water before

commencing the day’s proceedings. Walking towards the assembly he selected two

goats, for a sin offering, and one ram, for a burnt offering, to atone for the sins of the

nation. These two goats are subsequently led to the door of the tabernacle where

Aaron stands before the Lord. Lots were cast to determine which goat would be for

the Lord and which would be the Scapegoat or “Azalel” in the Hebrew original.

The ceremonial knife flashes through the air for the first time as the bullock is slain

for Aaron and his family. The High Priest fills a pan with burning coals from off the

altar and sprinkles sweet incense thereon which instantly causes an aromatic cloud.

He proceeds to carefully collect the blood of the bullock in one of the tabernacle’s

bowls. Treading carefully before the hushed audience he traces his steps towards the

Tent of Witness. He passes through the holy place where the golden table and

candlestick are positioned and approaches the veil. With a deep breath he sedately

brushes beyond the veil and into the Holy of Holies where the glory of Jehovah

resided. This compartment quickly filled with smoke from off the incense; the

incense that was fuelled with the flames from the altar where the carcase of the

bullock lay smouldering. The perfume permeated the atmosphere as Aaron stepped

up to the Ark of the Covenant gleaming with gold amid the vapours. Within the ark

were the tables of stone containing the commandments given to Moses on Sinai.

Aaron knew that to gaze upon this law would mean instant death but he was not

exposed to its naked vengeance. Between him and the Ark interposed the Mercy Seat.

183

Looking up, the figures of the Cherubim so ornately carved by Bezaleel, appeared

within his vision. Their golden wings veiled their faces as they looked down upon the

Mercy Seat. Aaron, trembling, dipped a finger into the bowl of blood facing

eastward, then he sprinkled the Mercy Seat seven times to make atonement for his

own sins and that of his house.

Returning to the outer court of the tabernacle Aaron once again wielded the knife

slitting the knife of the goat, upon which the lot fell for the Lord. Taking the blood of

this beast he retraces the same steps back to the Holy of Holies where the Mercy Seat,

already stained with fresh blood is once again sprinkled sevenfold, this time for the

sins of the nation as a whole.

When the High Priest appears from the secret recesses of the Tent of Witness for the

second time he passes the laver and makes his approach to the Brazen Altar, which

was by now the centre of the rather pungent smell of burning death. He had not

finished his work with the precious collection of blood. In order that the altar itself

become purified Aaron sprinkled the crimson substance, which was the essence of

life, upon its brassy horns seven times.

Aaron now turned his attention to “Azalel”, the Scapegoat. Its partner lay as a burnt

out carcase but this innocent creature would suffer a worse fate still. Solemnly the

High Priest pressed both his hands against the top of the goat’s cranium. He then

prayed and confessed “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their

transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.”4 A fit man

4 Leviticus 16:24

184

then led the beast far away into the wilderness, with the sins of people, into a place

from whence it could never return. Andrew Bonar conjectured as to the torment

endured by this simple beast; bred to depend upon human support:

“The scapegoat’s solitary cry is re-echoed by the barren rocks, and the howling of

beasts of prey terrifies it on all sides; the gloom of night settles down upon it and

shrouds it in deeper terror. Perhaps, too, it was not uncommon for Jehovah himself to

direct His lightning’s stroke towards this victim, and to cause it to perish amid the

tempest’s roar. Wounded by beasts of prey, from whom it has scarcely escaped, it is

now stretched on the ground by a stroke from that thunder-cloud (for ‘lightnings in

the night’ are frequent in that country at this season), its eyes glaring with convulsive

fear, and its piteous cries echoing through the dismal wilderness. Perhaps it was

generally thus that the scapegoat died.”5

The day was brought a fitting climax when Aaron went into the first room in the Tent

of Witness, known as the Holy Place. There he laid aside the plain white linen

garments and dons his normal ceremonial attire. Now as he comes forth the people

hear the golden bells jangling against the pomegranates on the hem of blue robe.

Acceptance with God has been attained, the High Priest is moving, he is alive, and the

bells can be heard! As he steps out from behind the curtain Israel can view Aaron’s

brilliant breastplate gleaming with the twelve gemstones and set in gold. On each

stone is inscribed the name of a tribe; therefore the family name of each Israelite was

on the High Priest’s heart. Each individual was thus assured that acceptance with God

was gained for him as an individual. The High Priest stepped forward to meet the


185

people with his linen headdress adorned with the golden tiara, which was emblazoned

with the words “HOLINESS TO THE LORD”.6 Therefore as the sun set on this

memorable day the people were visibly taught the meaning of the transaction, that

they might be a nation made holy unto Jehovah in order that his name might be

glorified and made great upon the earth.

Having laid the foundation by outlining the events of this momentous observance let

us now proceed to unfold the typical significance of the Day of Atonement.

The wearing of the plain white linen garments throughout the ceremonies of the day

are indicative of Jesus Christ living and dying for man in the plain robes of humanity.

The mystery of the incarnation is such that the Son of God became genuine bone and

flesh yet at the same time he was morally without defect. His character was as

spotless as the white dress of the High Priest of Israel.

The cleansing of the priest with water and by the offering of the bullock accentuates

the necessity of a mediator who is without sin. Aaron became sinless only in a

ceremonial sense because he remained an individual with a fallen nature. It was

absolutely vital, however, that the one who would live and die in the place of men

should be untainted by Adam’s corruption. The Son of God fulfilled this criterion as

he kept the precept of the law to the last jot before dying as the perfect man, suffering

the penalty the law for guilty men.

6 Exodus 38:30

186

The sacrifice of the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell teaches us that God demands a

sacrifice to expiate sin. Guilt cannot go unpunished and the requirements of his law

must be vindicated.

The Holy of Holies, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, is a representation of

heaven where the presence of Jehovah resides in all his glory. That being so the Lord

fulfilled the type of the High Priest entering to sprinkle the blood that had been shed

by entering heaven presenting the blood that he poured forth for the redemption of

sinners:

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more

perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by

the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy

place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”7

Dr John MacArthur erroneously minimised the literal power of our Lord’s blood with

the remarks; “It was not Jesus’ literal blood that saves us, but his dying on our behalf,

which is symbolised by the shedding of His precious blood. If we could be saved by

blood without death, the animals would have been bled, not killed, and it would have

been the same with Jesus”.8 What Dr Macarthur fails to do is appreciate the fact that

if death had taken place without blood it would not have been efficacious. It is

therefore logical and consistent to argue that there was virtue in the shed blood that

would not have been present in a bloodless death. Certainly in the ancient types death

without blood would have been anathema. If the High Priest had entered the

7 Hebrews 9:11-12

8 The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Hebrews, MacArthur, John, Moody Press, Chicago.

Page 237

187

sanctuary without his crimson filled receptacle he would have brought doom upon an

entire nation. Likewise if Christ had entered heaven without the blood he shed at

Calvary there would have been no redemption for sinners. The above quotation from

Hebrews clearly states that Christ entered the holy place with “by his own blood” and

this is united to the redemption that he obtained for us. The merits of our Lord’s

sacrifice were bound up in his blood, which he presented to the Father for our

acceptance. Commentator, Adolph Saphir saw this truth clearly:

“On no subject is the apostolic truth so emphatic, so lucid, so abundant. This truth

filled their hearts, and was their central thought. By the blood of Christ we who were

far off were made nigh; by His blood we are justified; Christ suffered that He might

sanctify us by His blood; we possess (and that forever) redemption through His blood;

His blood cleanseth us from all sin, and the Church has been purchased with this

precious price.

As the types teach us, the great object of the death of Christ, was that His blood might

be shed. By His own blood He entered into the holy place.”9

A most intriguing aspect of the Day of Atonement was the sanctifying of the Holy of

Holies by the High Priest when we entered within the veil. This is especially so in the

light of the revelation of the antitype:

9 The Epistle To The Hebrews, Saphir, A, ,J.F Shaw and Company. Page 571-572.

188

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be

purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than

these.”10

While the “heavenly things” did not need to be purged on account on their impurity

there is the very real sense that heaven could not be a fit place for sinful people unless

it too was purged by the blood of the Saviour. The emphasis therefore is upon the

sinfulness of man, which requires that heaven must be prepared by the blood of the

Lamb. Perhaps this gives a most pertinent sense to the words of our Lord concerning

glory, “I go to prepare a place for you”.11

John Owen, the puritan divine, concluded

that the “heavenly things” were all the privileges that the believer receives in Christ,

both in the mortal and immortal states. He argued that every blessing given to the

elect of God is not only purchased by blood but also cleansed by blood so that they

can be received. My own feeling, however, is that within the context of Hebrews

Nine the narrower sense of interpreting the “heavenly things” as the eternal refuge of

the saints is more suitable. This especially so in the following verse where the “holy

places made with hands” are described as “figures” before Paul described Christ as

entering into “heaven for us”. It seems apparent the Holy of Holies, was a figure of

heaven. Nevertheless John Owen’s remarks concerning the purging of the “heavenly

things” by Christ are certainly most appropriate:

“Neither could heavenly things have been made meet for us or our use, nor we have

been meet for their enjoyment, had they not been dedicated and we been purged by

the sacrifice of Christ. — There was no suitableness either in them unto us, or in us

10

Hebrews 10:23 11

John 14:2

189

unto them, until it was introduced by the blood of Christ. Without the efficiency

hereof, heavenly things would not be heavenly unto the minds and souls of men; they

would neither please them nor satisfy them, nor make them blessed. Unless they

themselves are purged, all things, even heavenly things themselves, would be unclean

and defiled unto them, Titus 1:15.”12

Not only was the Holy of Holies reconciled but the altar whereon lay the sacrifices

was also cleaned with the sprinkling of blood. This again reminds us of the purity of

Jesus Christ not in relation to his life but in his offering. The guilt of man was

overlaid upon him yet he himself was guiltless. He became identified with the sin yet

throughout the whole process the one who is the antitype of the altar was absolutely

pure. Paul again wrote that our Lord, “through the eternal Spirit offered himself

without spot to God…” Andrew Bonar neatly expressed the meaning of the cleansing

of the altar:

“The altar purified is an imperfect way of shewing that Christ continued spotless,

while our sins were laid upon him.”13

The next metaphor on this momentous day was the confessing of the sins of the nation

on the head of the scapegoat. There is the clear concept of substitution here as Aaron

transferred the guilt of the people onto the innocent creature. The emphatic mode of

expression, “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in

all their sins”, poignantly reminded the people that their individual sins were placed

upon this creature’s head. As our Lord suffered he bore our transferred guilt and he

12

Hebrews Volume 6, Owen, John, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1991. Pages 377-378. 13


190

died for our individual transgressions; “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried

our sorrows…But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our

iniquities”.14

The type of the scapegoat did not cease there, however, because the creature was sent

out into the wilderness where it would take the sins of Israel to a place from where

they never could be recalled. As the scapegoat was separated from all protection and

comfort and exposed alone to the perils of the wilderness so Jesus Christ was

separated from his Father because of our sins. Andrew Bonar wrote concerning this

picture of Christ’s passion:

“Follow the scapegoat, and see its doom. Is there not here a criminal led along?

There is something that speaks of the Man of Sorrows, made sin for us. Is there not

here a criminal led away to unknown woe? There is something that speaks of one

‘made a curse for us.’ Why is he left alone, defenceless, trembling amid a

wilderness? There is here enough to remind us of Jesus left to suffer without

sympathy. ‘He looked on the right hand, and there was none; refuge failed Him; no

man cared for His soul.’”15

The Saviour of men in performing this selfless deed has carried our sins far beyond

the reach of God’s justice. We today, who have trusted the Lord with saving faith, are

certain that, “As far as the as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our

transgressions from us.”16

We today can rest with assurance because our lawlessness

14

Isaiah 53:4-5 15

Commentary on Leviticus, Bonar, Andrew, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966. Page 312, 313 16

Psalm 103:12

191

has met the vengeance of God’s law in Christ. Punishment therefore cannot be

exacted a second time:

After the events of the sacred day had draws to a close Aaron laid aside the humble

white garb and dressed in his garments of beauty and glory. After the High Priest had

put on this attire in the Holy Place the first thing which the people became aware of

was the sound of the bells jangling against the pomegranates on the base of his blue

robe. The blueness of the robe represents heaven, were the Lord now appears “in the

presence of God for us.”17

The bells typify the sound of his voice as voice as “he ever

liveth to make intercession…”18

The Saviour who has put our sin away is now alive

because he ever pleads on our behalf:

“He ever lives above,

For me to intercede,

His all redeeming love,

His precious blood to plead;

His blood atoned for this our race,

And sprinkles now the throne of grace

Charles Wesley, 1707-88”19

17

Hebrews 9:24 18

Hebrews 7:25 19



192

As Aaron appeared, however, the people became conscious of his breastplate were the

tribes of Israel were represented by way of precious gemstones, which were arranged

across his chest. Our Great High Priest considers those people for whom he died as

most precious. Therefore he prays earnestly for our preservation in this world and he

pleads passionately for our ultimate glorification. The value of being so united to

Christ in that we are a precious people ever upon his heart is beyond all our

understanding and appreciation. As Aaron went from the Day of Atonement to

wearing these garments of glory until the following year, so Christ has gone from the

cross and the tomb to heaven where has bound himself to be our eternal advocate.

The Day of Atonement certainly teaches us that man requires a priestly intercessor.

Without Aaron to perform the rites of the day the people were lost and doomed. In

like fashion it is absolutely necessary that men avail themselves of the priesthood of

Christ by faith.

What is the peculiar blessing of the New Testament believer, however, is the meaning

of the veil into the Holy of Holies, which was mysteriously torn in two when our Lord

died.20

Aaron could only enter into the most sacred place annually but today under the

New Covenant we access the throne of God personally and individually through

Christ our mediator:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when

we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

20

Matthew 27:51

193

And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ

Jesus:”21

Today we are privileged to “come boldly unto the throne of grace” to “obtain mercy,

and find grace to help in time of need.”22

Furthermore, the authority is given to us to

come before the throne of God boldly by the blood of Jesus:

“Having therefore, brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus”.23

The way by which we enter boldly is called a “new and living way”. The old way

was restricted to the High Priest and that was an annual event. The new way has been

“consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”24

The rending of

Christ’s body was the necessary forerunner of the rending of the veil that has opened

access into the presence of Jehovah:

“It is through the humanity of Christ that the way to heaven has been opened, renewed

and consecrated. But prior to His death, the very life that was lived by the man Christ

Jesus only served to emphasise the awful distance, which sinners were from God, just

as the beautiful veil in the tabernacle shut out the Israelite from His presence.

Moreover, the humanity of Christ was a sin-bearing one, for the iniquities of His

people had all been imputed to Him. While, then, the flesh of Christ was uncrucified,

proof was before the eyes of men that the curse was not abolished. As long as He

tabernacled in this world, it was evident that sin was not yet put away. The veil must

21

Ephesians 2:5-7 22

Hebrews 4:16 23

Hebrews 10:19 24

Hebrews 10:20

194

be rent, Christ must die, before access to God was possible. When God rent the veil of

the temple, clear intimation was given that every hindrance had been removed, and

that the way was opened into His presence.”25

On account of this rent veil, the shed blood and our “high priest over the house of

God: let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…”26

This is a glorious

challenge and encouragement to pray. Once each year Israel trembled as she waited

for her High Priest to complete his sacred duties. In contrast the people God can now

approach the presence of God each day knowing that reception is guaranteed in

Christ. We must always seek the Lord for grace and power to use this privilege

wisely and more effectively.

25

Exposition of Hebrews, Pink, Arthur, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1988. Page 589 26

Hebrews 10:21-22

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CHAPTER 12

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

Leviticus 23:33-44; Deuteronomy 16:13-17; Nehemiah 8:13-18

While there were five Jewish feasts only three required the attendance of every man in

the land at the place of worship, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles:

“Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the

place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of

weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD

empty:”1

I must confess that I have found it difficult to understand why this should have been

the case. It was certainly not because the Day of Atonement and the Feast of

Trumpets were of lesser importance because there was no feast, which matched the

Day of Atonement for solemnity and symbolism. It may appear obvious to argue that

the three, which required attendance at Jerusalem, were the only feasts that involved

the people assembling for worship. I cannot see the rationale behind this argument

because the Day of Atonement centred upon the place of public worship and without

being present at the tabernacle or the temple the occasion would have lost its meaning,

Also, the sounding of the trumpets on the first day of the seventh month effectively

called the people together for worship. This is particularly more pertinent as the

1 Deuteronomy 16:16

196

Hebrew word, “moadeem”, translated feast literally conveys the thought of

assembling. Therefore if all the feasts were assemblies, why did the law only

command the males to attend Jerusalem for three and not five?

It is possible, however, that the three feasts on the seventh month are to be viewed in

unison coming so close together. The Feast of Tabernacles was the climax of the

Jewish spiritual year and was supreme among these three in that the other two led the

people to a grand climax from the fourteenth to the twenty-first day of the seventh

month. Therefore the Feast of Trumpets called the people to solemn reflection at the

beginning of this solemn month. The pilgrims then came to the place of worship for

the Day of Atonement which prepared their hearts for the Feast of Tabernacles five

days later. This is suggested as a possible means to understanding the exclusion of

the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Trumpets from the call to congregate the

males three times yearly.

Alternatively a more simple explanation may be that it was only obligatory to attend

Jerusalem for three feasts, the other celebrations were a matter for individual

discretion. This could very well have been the situation because while the males were

obliged the attend Jerusalem for three feasts the females often attended also as a

matter of choice. For example Hannah came with her husband but chose not to when

Samuel was young. In the Gospels we learn that Mary attended Jerusalem with

Joseph and the children obviously came as well. If this is so, could it have been

possible that many came for the Day of Atonement but they were not obliged to

attend? It certainly would have been possible but it remains a mystery as to why the

holiest day in the calendar was not placed on a par with the other feasts.

197

Alternatively, one could argue that the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost and

Tabernacles had definite connections with the harvest. Both the Passover and

Pentecost involved the offering of first fruits while the Feast of Tabernacles was

evidently the climax of the whole harvest season coming prior to the onset of winter.

The alternative title for the Feast of Tabernacles is “the feast of ingathering, which is

in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field”.2 In the

reference quoted above the emphasis is upon the males not appearing before the Lord

empty. Therefore attendance was required because these were the feasts to which the

men brought their produce and offered it in thanksgiving to God. W. Burrows

commented in regard to this aspect of the three feasts:

“They evidently refer not to a pastoral but to an agricultural state of society. The

offerings are such as an agricultural people might be expected to present. They are

indicative of the fact that the people were not mere keepers of sheep, but tillers of the

land.”3

This concept definitely has merit although the Day of Atonement as the preparation

for the Feast of Tabernacles dealt with the sin problem, which was a much more

serious matter than the gathered harvest. In the final analysis we must content

ourselves on this issue as with many other aspects of God’s word with the actual

record because the Holy Spirit in his infinite wisdom has not seen fit to supply the

answer.

2 Exodus 23:16

3 The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary, Exodus, Excell, Jones, Funk and Wagnalls Company, New

York and London. Page 418

198

We do know, however, that the Feast of the Tabernacles was a fitting climax to the

Jewish spiritual year. It was an occasion of unparalleled joy and was therefore

eagerly anticipated. The importance of this solemnity is underscored by the fact it is

mentioned numerous times throughout God’s word. This is in contrast to the Day of

Atonement, for example, which although being still practiced in the days of our Lord

is scarcely mentioned beyond Leviticus. The references to the Feast of Tabernacles

outside the Pentateuch are most helpful in that they help us to build a complete picture

of the detail and purpose of the occasion.

The key theme that can be drawn from this feast is rejoicing in Christ. As the Feast of

Tabernacles was the acme of the Jewish year joy is the pinnacle of the Christian

experience. Throughout these studies in the feasts of the Lord we have been

considering the deliverance, which the Christian enjoys by the grace of God. This

emancipation involves redemption by the blood of the Lamb. It also consists of

revival, which is a blessing purchased by the Saviour for the Church. The people of

God ought to exercise remembrance by following the Christ of God. Furthermore

those who are delivered enjoy reception into the presence of the Jehovah through our

blessed Mediator. Ultimately, deliverance necessarily involves rejoicing, which is the

primary lesson to be drawn from the Feast of Tabernacles.

The first observation I wish to make regarding this feast is the presence of humility as

the necessary forerunner of joy. The most distinctive aspect of this observance was

the booths which the Israelites were required to live for the duration:

199

“And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm

trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice

before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD

seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall

celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are

Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the

children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I

am the LORD your God.”4

Patrick Fairbairn’s remarks regarding these booths is most instructive:

“A booth is not exactly the same as a tent or tabernacle, though the names are

frequently interchanged. It properly means a slight, temporary dwelling, easily run

up, and as easily taken down again – a house or shed for a day or two; such as Jacob

made for his cattle in the place which on that account was called Succoth (booths),

and Jonah, for himself, which was so slim and insufficient, that he was of glad of the

foliage of a gourd to cover him. Tents might also be called booths, as being

habitations of a very imperfect description, light and moveable, speedily pitched, and

easily transported, the proper domiciles of a yet unsettled and wandering population”.5

Concerning the significance of the dwelling in booths A.J. Pollock appropriately

wrote:

4 Leviticus 23:40-43

5 The Typology of Scripture Volume Two,, Fairbairn, Patrick, Glasgow,

T. & T, Clarke, Edinburgh, 1882. Page 454 – 455.

200

“During the Feast of Tabernacles, which took place at the end of the Harvest, a time

of plenty and rejoicing, a faint picture of the fulfilment of the type in the days to

come, the Israelites by birth were to dwell in booths to remind them how God had

brought them out of the land of Egypt…It does not do for us to forget the pit out of

which we have been dug, that we are after all, with all the wondrous blessings that are

ours sinners saved by grace.”6

It surely behoves us never to forget what the grace of God has taken us from if we are

experience fullness of joy.

In the second instance I wish to observe gratitude as the necessary ingredient of joy.

In Deuteronomy Moses makes an important connection between this feast and the

harvest safely garnered into the barns:

“Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered

in thy corn and thy wine: And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast…Seven days shalt thou

keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall

choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the

works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.”7

Rejoicing cannot exist without gratitude and humility essentially will always lead to

thankfulness in the spiritual realm. The Christian is one who must constantly be

amazed at the goodness of the Lord.

6 The Tabernacle’s Typical Teaching, Pollock, A.J., The Central Bible Truth Depot, London. Page 156.

7 Deut 16:13-15

201

In the third place I wish to turn my attention to Christ the source of all joy. In John

Seven Christ preached a striking sermon during this feast in Jerusalem. To

comprehend the full import of the message we must understand the way in which the

Jews celebrated this feast in the days of our Lord’s humiliation.

The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles was actually the eighth, not the seventh day.

This day was the focus of a particularly spectacular ceremony, which the Jews had

developed over many centuries. Alfred Edersheim vividly described the events as

they unfolded on the great day of the feast:

“To the sound of music a procession started from the Temple. It followed a Priest

who bore a golden pitcher…Onwards it passed…to the very verge of Siloam. When

the Temple-procession had reached the Pool of Siloam, the Priest filled his golden

pitcher from its waters. Then they went back to the temple, so timing it, that they

should arrive just as they were laying the pieces of the sacrifice on the great Altar of

Burnt-offering, towards the close of the Morning-Sacrifice service. A threefold blast

of the Priests’ trumpets welcomed the arrival, as he entered through the ‘Water-gate’

into the Court of Priests. Here he was joined by another Priest, who carried the wine

for the drink-offering. The two priests ascended the ‘rise’ of the altar, and turned to

the left. There were two silver funnels here, with narrow openings, leading down to

the base of the altar. Into that at the east, which was somewhat wider, the wine was

poured, and , at the same time, the water into the western and narrower opening, the

people shouting to the Priest to raise his hand, so as to make sure that he poured the

water into the funnel…Immediately after ‘the pouring of water’, the great ‘Hallel’,

consisting of Psalms 113 to 118 (inclusive), was chanted antiphonally, or rather with

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responses to the accompaniment of the flute. As the Levites intoned the first line of

each Psalm, the people repeated it; while to each of the other lines they responded by

Hallelu Yah (Praise ye the Lord).”8

This elaborate ceremony had no foundation whatsoever in the directions given by God

to Moses. The Jews merely developed it as a remembrance of God’s miraculous

provision during the wilderness wanderings. In the midst of the crowds that were

both enjoying and participating in the spectacle the Lord stood forth and cried, “If any

man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.”9 The empty ritual of water being poured

out upon the altar excited the people but the Saviour invited them to partake of the

water, which he would provide. The passage in John interprets the water as “the

Spirit”.10

By giving the Holy Ghost in regeneration Christ is the supplier of joy

beyond all description.

Furthermore when Christ was transfigured Peter was probably referring to this feast

when he suggested that three tabernacles be erected on the mount.11

The place

represented such joy to the disciple that his mind immediately thought of the little

booths they lived in for one week in the seventh month. God however commanded

Peter to listen to his Son as Moses and Elijah faded and the Saviour alone came into

view. In like fashion this ancient feast has faded into obscurity leaving us Christ

alone as the source of all joy.

8 The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Edersheim, Alfred, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody,

Massachusetts. Page 158-159. 9 John 7:37

10 John 7:39

11 Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-10

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The fourth consideration that to my mind becomes apparent when examining this

feast is the Millennium as the outpouring of joy. In Zechariah Fourteen a time of

future blessing for world is prophesied:

“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall be the one LORD

and his name one.”12

During this time punishments would be meted out on those nations who failed to

“keep the feast of tabernacles.”13

Therefore the feast of tabernacles is described as

being observed in this chapter. The question, however, that arises is; is Zechariah

Fourteen future and if so will the Feast of Tabernacles be reinstated post Calvary? It

strikes me that one would have great difficulty in arguing that this chapter is historic

because the gospel had not yet triumphed in the world in the widest sense of the word.

While it is true that the great revivals and evangelistic efforts have changed the face of

the earth huge portions of the international population remain under the grip of

heathendom. In the language of Paul the fullness of the Gentiles has not yet arrived

and with it the grafting in again of Israel, the natural branches of the olive tree, the

Church of Christ.14

This being so, I am convinced that the there will be a period of

blessing for the earth when the Lord will be King in a hitherto unknown sense. The

question that remains is; will the feast of tabernacles be reinstated. This I cannot

accept because all of the ancient rites were abolished with Christ. This is the central

thesis of Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews. Therefore it is scriptural to argue that this

reference to the Feast of Tabernacles must be taken spiritually rather than literally.

That being so the prophecy refers ton the spirit of the feats rather than to the letter of

12

Zechariah 14:9 13

Zechariah 14:19 14

Romans 11

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the law, which was joy. Therefore those who enjoy the glories of Christ the King will

have happiness whereas those who refuse him will have misery.

This spirit, which dominated the genuine observance of this feast, is illustrated in

Nehemiah Eight. The returning captives experienced revival as Ezra the scribe read

the law and expounded its content. Such was the impact of the word upon their hearts

that “all the people wept”.15

The awakened conscience yearned after new obedience

and this came to fruition with a celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Throughout

the feast there was “very great joy”16

and Ezra read from the law from the “first day

unto the last day”.17

Therefore the revival which will befall the world in the days

before the end will enjoy these sacred characteristics. Preaching will give the word of

God its rightful place, the souls of people will be awakened unto repentance, there

will be newfound obedience and this in turn will create lasting joy. As the Jew

anticipated the Feast of Tabernacles as the last great spiritual event of the year the

church can anticipate the closing days of the world when joy will be her fresh portion

as the power of the gospel is manifested among all the nations.

My final observation from this feast transports us from the temporal to the eternal

state as we consider Heaven as the fulfilment of joy. In John’s glorious vision of the

multitude that no man could number there was an allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles:

15

Nehemiah 8:15 16

Nehemiah 8:17 17

Nehemiah 8:18

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“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all

nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before

the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;”18

Alfred Edersheim records that on that last day of the feast each pilgrim would carry,

“what is called the Lulabh, which, although properly meaning ‘a branch’ or ‘palm

branch’, consisted of a myrtle and willow-branch tied together with a palm-branch

between them”.19

Therefore when John saw the great multitude in glory the scene

was reminiscent to the crowds who gathered in triumph and joy on the last great day

of the Feast of Tabernacles in the temple at Jerusalem. There were major differences,

however. The last day of the feast passed away whereas the glorious enjoyment of the

elect of God will be without conclusion. The Jews in the days of Lord revelled in a

ritual which had become meaningless due to their unbelief whereas the happiness of

the eternal state will be full substantial. As the Feast of Tabernacles involved a

looking back with humility to the wilderness wanderings and the God who brought

them into rest, the church of Christ will forever remember that they have been washed

in precious blood and rescued by the saving power of grace. Praise God, every

redeemed child of the King will join this glorious scene of triumph sharing in the

gathering, of which the Feast of Tabernacles was but a faint shadow.

“ ‘Forever with the Lord!’

Amen, so let it be!

Life from the dead is in that word,

18

Revelation 7:9 19

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Edersheim, Alfred, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody,

Massachusetts. Page 157

206

Tis immortality.

Here in the body pent,

Absent from Him I roam,

Yet nightly pitch my oving tent

A days march nearer home.

James Mountgomery, 1771-1854”20

20


of Ulster, 1989. Hymn No 588

207

CONCLUSION

Having examined the rituals of ancient Israel my conclusion can only based around

one individual, “Christ”. Consistently throughout this study we have been reminded

of the varied aspects of his person and work. Not only so, but we have furthermore

been instructed as to the power available to the people of God through Christ, in their

Christian service. These ceremonies certainly teach us that preaching must be Christ

centred and Bible study needs to be Christ orientated because a successful Christian

life is one that feeds from the Son God and is geared to his glory alone. The desire of

the Greeks who came to the Feast of the Passover was, “Sir, we would see Jesus.”1 Is

that not the privilege of those who study the ancient rites? We have truly seen the

Lord in the ceremonies of old time but may God may pleased to enhance the vision

that we would reflect Christ’s glory to a world dying in sin.

1 John 12:21

208

BIBLIOGRAPY

The bibliography is supplied in the order that the books first appear in the thesis. The

details given are as they appear in the published works. Therefore where a date of

publication is not supplied this is due to the lack of this information in the published

volume.

Cairns, Alan Dictionary of Theological Terms, Ambassador-Emerald

International, Belfast and Greenville, 1998, Page 157.

Young, Edward J Introduction to the Old Testament, The Tyndale Press,

London, Revised Edition, March 1956

The Westminster Standards

Bonar, Andrew Commentary on Leviticus, ,

Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1966

Warfield Benjamin B The Works of Benjamin B Warfield,

Baker Book House Company 2003,

Gaussen L “Theopneustia:” The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy

Scriptures, Passmore and Alabaster, London, 1891

Vine W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,

Macdonald Publishing Company, Maclean, Virginia

Esword Commentary, downloaded from esword.net

209

Hendrickson, W and. Kistemaker S. New Testament Commentary,

Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, Baker Books, 1957

Keach, Benjamin, Preaching From the Types and Metaphors of the Bible,

Kregal, U.S.A, 1972

Our Own Hymnbook, Psalms, Paraphrases and Hymns,

Published by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, 1989

Keil C.F. &. Delitzsch Commentary On The Old Testament, Electronic Edition,

The Master Christian Library Version 8, Ages Software

Boice, James Mountgomery Genesis An Expositional Commentary,

Zondervan Publishing House,

Grand Rapids, Michegan, 1985

MacIntosh, C.H Notes on the Leviticus, .., Second Edition Revised,

George Morrish, 24 Warwick Lane, London

Fountain, David G Contending For The Faith, E.J. Poole-Connor, A ‘prophet

amid sweeping changes in English evangelicalism,.,

The Wakeman Trust, London, 2005

Pollock, A. J The Tabernacle’s Typical Teaching, ,

The Central Bible Truth Depot, London

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn Studies in the Sermon on the Mount,


Edition, 1976

Pink, Arthur W. Gleanings In Exodus, , Moody Press, Chicago, 1981

210

Spurgeon, C.H. Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,

Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena, Texas, 1985

Jellie-Brown and Jones The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary, Leviticus-Numbers 15,

Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York and London

Poole, Matthew Matthew Poole’s Commentary On The Holy Bible ,

MacDonald Publishing Company, McClean, Virginia

Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David,

Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Gordon, Robert Christ in the Old Testament,

Free Presbyterian Publications, Glasgow, 2002

MacArthur, John The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Hebrews,

Moody Press, Chicago

Saphir, A The Epistle To The Hebrews, J.F Shaw and Company

Owen, John Hebrews, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1991

Pink, Arthur Exposition of Hebrews,

Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1988

Excell, Jones The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary, Exodus, ,

Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York and London

Edersheim, Alfred The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, ,

Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts