CHAPTER III.

SACRED THINGS. - ON THE SACRIFICES AND OTHER OFFERINGS OF THE

JEWS.

THE offerings prescribed to the Israelites have been divided into four classes; viz. Bloody Offerings, Unbloody Offerings, Drink Offerings, and Oblations of different kinds.

I. BLOODY OFFERINGS were sacrifices properly and strictly so called; by which we may understand the infliction of death on a living creature, generally by the effusion of its blood in a way of religious worship, and the presenting of this act to God as a supplication for the pardon of sin, and as a supposed mean of compensation for the insult and injury offered by sin to his majesty and government. In all sacrifices of this class, it was required that the victims should be clean, that is, such as might be eaten. Of the bird tribe, the dove was the most common offering; of quadrupeds, oxen, sheep, and goats were the only kinds destined for the altar. Further, the victim was to be without blemish (Levit. xxii. 22.), and one which had never borne the yoke. Being found immaculate, it was led to the altar by the person offering the sacrifice, who laid his hands upon his head; by which act he acknowledged the sacrifice to be his own, and that he offered it as an atonement for his own sins, by which he had forfeited his life to the violated law of God. The animal being immolated, the blood was caught in a vessel, and partly sprinkled round about upon the altar; by which the atonement was made. (Levit. i. 5-7.) The remainder of the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar: previously to laying the sacrifice thereon, it was salted for the fire. (Levit. ii. 13. Mark ix. 46.) At first, sacrifices were offered at the door of the tabernacle; but after the erection of the temple, it was not lawful to

offer them elsewhere. The Jewish Sacrifices were of three kinds; viz.

1. The BURNT-OFFERINGS, or Holocausts, were freewill offerings wholly devoted to God, according to the primitive patriarchal usage. The man himself was to bring them before the Lord, and they were offered in the manner just described. The victim to be offered was, according to the person's ability, a bullock without blemish, or a male of the sheep or goats, or a turtle-dove or pigeon. (Levit. i. 3. 10. 14.) If, however, he was too poor to bring either of these, he was to offer a mincha or meat-offering, of which an account is given in page 313. It was a very expressive type of the sacrifice of Christ, as nothing less than his complete and full sacrifice could make atonement for the sins of the world.

2. The PEACE-OFFERINGS (Levit. iii. 1.) were also freewill offerings, in token of peace and reconciliation between God and man: they were either eucharistical, that is, offered as thanksgivings for blessings received, or were offered for the impetration of mercies. These offerings consisted either of animals, or of bread or dough; if the former, part of them was burnt upon the altar, especially all the fat, as an offering to the Lord; and the remainder was to be eaten by the priest and by the party offering. To this sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving Saint Paul alludes in Heb. xiii. 15, 16. In this kind of sacrifices the victims might be either male or female, provided they were without blemish. The same apostle has a fine allusion to them in Eph. ii. 14-19.

3. SIN-OFFERINGS were offered for sins committed either through ignorance or wilfully against knowledge, and which were always punished unless they were expiated. In general they consisted of a sin-offering to God, and a burnt-offering accompanied with restitution of damage. (Levit. v. 2-19. vi. 1-7.)

4. The TRESPass-Offerings were made, where the

party offering had just reason to doubt whether he had violated the law of God or not. (Levit. v. 17, 18.) They do not appear to have differed materially from sin-offerings. In both these kinds of sacrifices, the person who offered them placed his hands on the victim's head (if a sin-offering), and confessed his sin over it, and his trespass over the trespass-offering; the animal was then considered as vicariously bearing the sins of the person who brought it.

All these sacrifices were occasional, and had reference to individuals; but there were others which were national and regular, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual.

The perpetual or Daily Sacrifice was a burnt-offering, consisting of two lambs, which were offered every day, morning and evening, at the third and ninth hours. (Exod. xxix. 38-40. Levit. vi. 9-18. Numb. xxviii. 1-8.) They were burnt as holocausts, but by a small fire, that they might continue burning the longer. With each of these victims was offered a bread-offering and a drink-offering of strong wine. The morning sacrifice, according to the Jews, made atonement for the sins committed in the night, and the evening sacrifice expiated those committed during the day.

The Weekly Sacrifice on every Sabbath day was equal to the daily sacrifice, and was offered in addition to it. (Numb. xxviii. 9, 10.)

The Monthly Sacrifice, on every new moon, or at the beginning of each month, consisted of two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, together with a kid for a sin-offering, and a suitable bread and drink-offering. (Numb. xxviii. 11-14.)

The Yearly Sacrifices were thus offered on the great annual festivals, which are noticed in the following chapter; viz. 1. The paschal lamb at the passover, which was celebrated at the commencement of the Jewish sacred year: 2. On the day of Pentecost, or day of first-fruits; 3. On the New Moon, or first day of the

seventh month, which was the commencement of their civil year; and, 4. On the day of expiation.

II. The UNBLOODY SACRIFICES, or Meat-Offerings, were taken solely from the vegetable kingdom: they could not, regularly, be presented as sin-offerings, unless the person who had sinned was so poor, that he could not afford to bring two young pigeons, or two turtle-doves. They were to be free from leaven or honey, but to all of them it was necessary to add pure salt, that is, saltpetre.

III. DRINK-OFFERINGS were an accompaniment to both bloody and unbloody sacrifices: they were never used separately; and consisted of wine, which appears to have been partly poured upon the brow of the victim in order to consecrate it, and partly allotted to the priests, who drank it with their portions of both these kinds of offerings.

IV. Besides the preceding sacrifices, various other oblations are mentioned in the sacred writings, which have been divided into ordinary or common, voluntary or free oblations, and such as were prescribed.

1. The Ordinary Oblations consisted, (1.) Of the Shew-bread, which has been already noticed in p. 296.; the loaves were placed hot, every Sabbath-day, by the priests, upon the golden table of the sanctuary before the Lord, when they removed the stale loaves which had been exposed the whole of the preceding week; and, (2.) Of Incense, which was composed of several fragrant spices, prepared according to the commands given in Exod. xxx. 34-36. It was offered twice, daily, by the officiating priest upon a golden altar (whereon no bloody sacrifice was to come), except on the day of atonement, when it was offered by the high priest. During this offering the people prayed, silently, without (Luke i. 10.); and to this solemn silence St. John alludes in Rev. viii. 1.

2. The Voluntary or Free Oblations were the fruits

P

either of promises or of vows; but the former were not considered so strictly obligatory as the latter, of which there were two kinds: (1.) The vow of consecration, when any thing was devoted to God, either for sacrifice or for the service of the temple, as wine, wood, salt, &c. To this class of vows belonged the Corban, reprobated by Jesus Christ, which the Pharisees carried so far as to exonerate children from assisting their indigent parents (Mark vii. 9-11. 13.); and, (2.) The vow of engagement, when persons engaged to do something that was not in itself unlawful, as not to eat of some particular meat, not to wear some particular habits, not to drink wine, nor to cut their hair, &c.

3. The Prescribed Oblations were either First-Fruits or Tithes.

(1.) All the First-Fruits, both of fruit and animals, were consecrated to God. (Exod. xxii. 29. Numb. xviii. 12, 13. Deut. xxvi. 2. Neh. x. 35, 36.): and the firstfruits of sheep's wool were offered for the use of the Levites. (Deut. xviii. 4.) These first-fruits were offered from the feast of Pentecost until that of dedication, because after that time the fruits were neither so beautiful nor so good as before. Further, the Jews were prohibited from gathering in the harvest until they had offered to God the omer, that is, the new sheaf, which was presented the day after the great day of unleavened bread; neither were they allowed to bake any bread made of new corn until they had offered the new loaves upon the altar on the day of Pentecost; without which all the corn was regarded as unclean and unholy. To this St. Paul alludes in Rom. xi. 16.

(2.) Besides the first-fruits, the Jews also paid the tenths or Tithes of all they possessed (Numb. xviii. 21.); they were, in general, collected from all the fruits of the earth, but chiefly of corn, wine, and oil, and were rendered every year, except the sabbatical year.