04.06. THE EIGHTH DAY CONSECRATION
THE EIGHTH DAY CONSECRATION Leviticus 9:1-24
Leviticus 9:1-4. “On the eighth day.” THIS is additional to Exodus 29:1-46 :, where no eighth day is mentioned. The eighth day is typical of resurrection, and of heavenly rest. When Israel is keeping her earthly and millennial seventh-day Sabbath on earth, the redeemed in heavenly and resurrection glory will enter on their eternal and eighth day Sabbath above. Not only is it on the ground of sacrifice and redemption that the throne of grace is founded, where grace triumphant reigns; but the MANIFESTATI0N OF GLORY rests on the same basis. The same atoning work which secures mercy and grace now, secures millennial and eternal glory hereafter. It is on the ground of accomplished redemption that the Lord Jesus will appear in glory with His ransomed ones; and it is on the ground of redemption accomplished and peace made, that Israel will behold that manifested glory.
Leviticus 9:5-6. All this is preparatory to the manifestation of Jehovah in glory to His people Israel.
Leviticus 9:8-21. Without entering on the details of these verses, we may simply say that atonement having been accomplished, acceptance being secured, and peace made; the curse was cancelled, and complete provision made for fullness of blessing to be pronounced.
Leviticus 9:22-23. The same gracious Lord who was taken away from His disciples in the act of blessing them, and carried up into heaven, having been hidden there for a season, will again appear in the glory of Jehovah, with unbounded blessings for Israel and the world.
Leviticus 9:24. The righteousness of Jehovah having been fully vindicated, satisfied, and glorified by the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for Israel, and the earth’s unlimited joy, and acceptable adoring worship. The Cleansing of The Leper (Leviticus 14:1-57).
Leviticus 14:1-2. “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing.” LEPROSY is the emblem of sin. There are no instructions in this chapter for the healing of the leper, but for his cleansing. The healing of leprosy was entirely in the hand of God. The officiating priest here primarily represents Christ, but in a secondary sense one employed by Christ. When the leper had been seen by the priest, and pronounced unclean, his place was without the camp - his clothes rent, a covering on his upper lip, and with the cry, “Unclean, unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45). A striking picture of a convicted sinner when by the Holy Spirit convinced of his real condition in the sight of God. What he then needs is such a presentation to the eye of faith of the person and atoning work of the Lord Jesus, that he might realize the putting away of sin, his standing in grace, and hope of glory (Romans 5:1-3). At first it was a work done for him.
Leviticus 14:3. “He shall be brought unto the priest: and the priest shall go forth out of the camp.” The priest is a priest by virtue of the anointing. The spiritual mind alone can discern in the convicted sinner the evidence of salvation by the grace of God. Leviticus 14:4. The leper to be cleansed was not required at first to bring the offerings, but “Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet [worm scarlet] and hyssop.” So on the return of the prodigal the father commands the servants to bring hither the fatted calf, and to put the best robe upon the returning son. Two birds are to be taken, in order to show forth both death and resurrection. The typical import of the cedar wood, the worm scarlet, and the hyssop is best explained by Php 2:6-8. The CEDAR WOOD is significant of HIGHEST DIGNITY, the HYSSOP that grows on the wall of DEEPEST HUMILIATION, and the WORM SCARLET of the EARTHLY DIGNITY of the Son of Man who was born of the seed of David, who in the form of God and of the Royal line of David humbled Himself even to the death of the cross. The birds here mentioned are in the Hebrew “sparrows,” and strikingly remind us of Him who could say, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head” (Luke 9:58). Of little esteem among men, but ever the objects of His Father’s care. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” (Matthew 10:29).
Leviticus 14:5. “The priest shall command that one of the birds be killed.” In general the offerer kills the victim, but here the priest commands that one of the birds should be killed in or over an EARTHEN vessel, emblem of the pure HUMANITY of the Lord Jesus; over “running - literally LIVING - WATER,” type of Him who “through the eternal SPIRIT offered Himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14). It is important to see the part the Holy Ghost takes in the crucifixion, this is too much overlooked. The bird being killed over the living water contained in the earthen vessel, the water would have become saturated with the blood.
Leviticus 14:6-7. “As for the living bird, “etc. The living bird, connected with the cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop, and dipped in the blood of the slain bird, and let free in the open field, is a type of the risen and ascended Saviour, who, like the high priest of the day of Atonement, entered the holiest in the value of the sprinkled blood, so our High Priest ascended into the presence of His God and Father, His divine glory, human excellency, and lowly obedience unto death giving their united value to His atoning work. On the ground of these perfectly applied (sprinkled seven times), and fully apprehended, the pardoned sinner is pronounced “CLEAN,” the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleansing him from all sin.
Leviticus 14:8. “He that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes.” The washing of the clothes signifies the laying aside all in outward character and conduct which is not consistent with his profession. The shaving off of the hair expresses the renunciation of nature’s comeliness and strength, having “no confidence in the flesh” (Php 3:3). The washing or bathing in water is shown by Romans 6:4 to set forth fellowship through the Holy Ghost in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Are there not many who while they take their place among the people of God, and are recognized by them, yet for a season fail to enter into full rest and peace in their own souls, not at rest nor at home as to their inward experience. In the camp, but not in their own tent (Job 3:26).
Leviticus 14:9. “It shall be on the seventh day.” We now come to the SEVENTH day cleansing, that is, to a more thorough renunciation of the comeliness and strength of the flesh. The shaving of the HEAD is the renunciation of his natural reason, of the BEARD his experience, of the EYEBROWS his powers of observation; and in the washing or bathing is set forth the realization of the fact that he is dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus, through the indwelling Spirit.
Leviticus 14:10-13. “And on the EIGHTH day.” The EIGHTH day is the day on which Jesus AROSE from the dead, and the day on which, seven weeks after, the Comforter came. The eighth day cleansing sets forth the believer’s apprehension, through faith in the death and RESURRECTION of Christ, that he is RAISED up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, being through the Holy Ghost one in Spirit with the RISEN, ascended, and glorified Lord.
Leviticus 14:14-20. In the cleansing of the leper much the same line is gone over as in the consecration of the priest, but with some exceptions. First, some of the blood of the trespass offering is put upon the ear, the hand, and the foot of the leper to be cleansed, and then the oil is put UPON the blood of the trespass offering. But secondly, it will be noticed that in the case of the leper it is not called AN ANOINTING. Thirdly, it is the pure olive oil which is applied, and not, as in the consecration of the priests, the anointing oil, which associates the priest with Christ in His priestly office, for he is “a priest by virtue of the anointing.” This is accompanied with the fresh realization of the atoning sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Thus he is pronounced clean. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 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” (Romans 8:33-35). THE PROVISION FOR THE POOR.
Leviticus 14:21-32. These verses show the goodness of God in thus meeting the poverty of the offerer when he is not able to bring all that was at first required, and expresses the condescension of divine grace towards those who are not able fully to comprehend the completeness and blessedness of their standing in Christ before God according to the Scriptures. Yet for the putting away of sin, the complete atonement of Christ in all its details, and the work of the Holy Spirit, were necessary IN THE SIGHT OF GOD; though the pardoned sinner may not be able fully to enter into the entire subject, yet the apprehension of the sacrifice of Christ is necessary for the soul’s peace.