Lev. 4 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any one shall sin unwittingly, in any of the things which the LORD hath commanded not to be done, and shall do any one of them: if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people; then let him offer for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering. And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tent of meeting before the LORD; and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the bullock, and kill the bullock before the LORD. And the anointed priest shall take of the blood of the bullock, and bring it to the tent of meeting: and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tent of meeting; and all the blood of the bullock shall be pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tent of meeting. And all the fat of the bullock of the sin offering he shall take off from it: the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away, as it is taken off from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of burnt offering. And the skin of the bullock, and all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, and its inwards, and its dung, even the whole bullock shall be carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall it be burnt. And if the whole congregation of Israel shall err, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which the LORD hath commanded not to be done and are guilty; when the sin wherein they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bullock for a sin offering, and bring it before the tent of meeting. And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. Thus shall he do with the bullock; as he did with the bullock of the sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bullock: it is the sin offering for the assembly. When a ruler sinneth, and doeth unwittingly any one of all the things which the LORD his God hath commanded not to be done, and is guilty: if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, be made known to him, he shall bring for his oblation a goat, a male without blemish; and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering. And if any one of the common people sin unwittingly, in doing any of the things which the LORD hath commanded not to be done, and be guilty; if his sin, which he hath sinned, be made known to him, then he shall bring for his oblation a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.

32. And if he bring a lamb as his oblation for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.

5 1 And if any one sin, in that he heareth the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he hath seen or known, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity : or if any one touch any unclean thing, whether it be the carcase of an unclean beast, or the carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and it be hidden from him, and he be unclean, then he shall be guilty : or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever his uncleanness be wherewith he is unclean, and it be hid from him ; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty : or if any one swear rashly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall utter rashly with an oath, and it be hid from him ; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these things : and it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that wherein he hath sinned : and he shall bring his guilt offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering ; and the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin. And if his means suffice not for a lamb, then he shall bring his guilt offering for that wherein he hath sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD ; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it asunder : and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar ; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar : it is a sin offering. And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance : and the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin which he hath sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

11. But if his means suffice not for two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he shall bring his oblation for that wherein he hath sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering ; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon : for it is a sin offering. And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, upon the offerings of the LORD made by fire : it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in any of these things, and he shall be forgiven : and the remnant shall be the priest’s, as the meal offering.

6 24 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering : in the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD : it is most holy. The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it : in a holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy : and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in a holy place. But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken : and if it be sodden in a brazen vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. Every male among the priests shall eat thereof : it is most holy. And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place, shall be eaten : it shall be burnt with fire.

No. 15 22 And when ye shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses, even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations ; then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof, according to the ordinance, and one he-goat for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven ; for it was an error, and they have brought their oblation, an offering made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error : and all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger that sojourneth among them ; for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly. And if one person sin unwittingly, then he shall offer a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth unwittingly, before the LORD, to make atonement for him ; and he shall be forgiven. Ye shall have one law for him that doeth aught unwittingly, for him that is home-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth aught with an high hand, whether he be homeborn or a stranger, the same 31 blasphemeth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment; that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him.

[Verses omitted above, mainly repetitions.]

Generally it was true among the heathen that sin was looked upon rather as a mere transgres- sion of the laws of nature—a mistake, a folly— but with little of moral quality; or else a dis- pleasure to the magnified men, with the passions and caprices of men, whom they worshipped as gods, and ill-advised, so far as it was likely to awaken their animosity. In contrast with all this, sin stands out in the Hebrew Scriptures as something opposed to the will and character of One infinite in holiness and purity, and for- ever unchangeable in purpose. Between these extremes there was every variety of conception of sin, determined by the varying conception of God, and of man’s relation to him; but as the Hebrew idea of God was higher than any other, so was its view of sin as a moral offence far deeper. Gardiner.

Over against the conceptions of Divine right- cousness, holiness, and purity, the Hebrew Scrip- tures set that of their dark opposite—human sin. The one cannot be understood apart from the other. No theory of the origin of the He- brew religion merits serious attention which cannot give an honest and satisfactory reply to the question, Whence was the idea of sin which pervades the Old Testament Scriptures derived? Not even the poetic and historic literature, far less the sacred books, of all other ancient na- tions can stand comparison with the Hebrew Scriptures in human interest. No phase of hu- man life is unreffected in that wondrous mirror; no note is left untouched throughout the dia- pasm of human emotion. Every vicissitude of human fortune finds a place in these pages, from the throne to the dungeon, from the cradle to the grave. Every type of human character is represented, from the most heroic greatness or saintliest purity to the most unbridled and revelling wickedness. A procession of empires passes across that narrow stage. We hear the jubilant songs of harvest and vintage, the music of feasts, the stern hymn of warriors, the plan of victory, the choral chant of temple worship, the wail of the dirge. Yet with this unrivalled fulness and all but endless variety of human interest, national tradition, and individual por- traiture it is no exaggeration to say that one dominant character pervades the whole delincation; one thought underlies the whole, even where it does not appear on the surface; one deep sorrowful note rings like a knell through all the music. It is that which Paul utters when, quoting from the Old Testament, he says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” E. R. Conder.

Sin—the choice of evil instead of good, the perversion of the desires, the slavery of the will, the darkening of the mind, the deadly sickness of the whole heart—this is the foun- tain of all trouble, the cause of all disorder and wretchedness. This is the curse which de- stroys life’s harmony and beauty. This is the obstacle which separates the soul, in darkness and sorrow, from God. The forms of every re- ligion, the voice of unceasing prayers, the smoke of endless burnt-offerings, the blood of bulls and goats, the oblations of all that is most pre- cious—gifts, propitiations, pleadings, sacrifices, without stint and without number—bear wit- ness to the deep and awful sense of sin which rests upon the heart of the world. H. Van Dyke.

It is indispensable that attention be given to the terms under which the conception of sin is presented in the Old Testament. The Hebrew language is rich in moral synonyms. Nine principal words may be noted: (1) Chattath. Sin; perhaps originally “error,” “missing the mark.” (2) Pesha’. Transgression; perhaps “breach.” (3) Resha’. Unrighteousness; wick- edness. (4) Asham. Guilt; the word rendered “trespass” in the law concerning “trespass- offerings.” (5) Avon. Perversity; crime. (6) Aven. Vanity; iniquity. (7) ‘Evel. Wicked- ness; depravity; properly “twisting aside.” (8) Ma’al. Trespass. (9) Ra’. Ill; evil. One fact of immense interest comes out from this list of words, that the Hebrew conception of sin was moral, not ceremonial. This is as true of the Law as of the historical and prophetic writ- ings. The Hebrew language itself bears irre- fragable witness that the pollutions and purifi- cations ordained by the ceremonial law were but symbols of a stain they could not reach and a purity they could not bestow; the pollution of the heart and the conscience by inward sin, and the purification of Divine forgiveness and restoration to God’s image. If the penitent exclaimed, “Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it,” he spoke in perfect accord with the

Law which ordained for such crimes as murder and adultery not sacrifice, but “death without mercy.” And if he prayed, “Hide thy face from my sins; and blot out all mine iniquities; create in me a clean heart, and renew a righ tepirit in me,” he but interpreted the deepest lessons of the Law, which shone through the ritual as through a transparent veil; lessons which the great Lawgiver himself declared that God’s own voice had proclaimed in his ears (Ex. 33:19; 34:6). E. R. Conder.

It is significant that in the order of narration the Sin offering follows those before mentioned, although as a matter of ritual it ordinarily preceded them when all were presented at the same time. The others had been in use before the days of Moses. This, at least in its present form, had not. The immediate object of the Sin-offering was expiation, as that of the Trespass-offering [guilt-offering] was satisfaction or restitution. E. C. B.—The sin-offering among the Jews was the sacrifice in which the ideas of propitiation and of a’onement for sin were most distinctly marked. It is first directly enjoined in Lev. 4, whereas in ch. 1-3 the burnt-offering, meal-offering, and peace-offering are taken for granted, and the object of the Law is to regulate, not to enjoin, the presentation of them to the Lord. Nor is the word applied to any sacrifice in ante-Mosaic times. It is, therefore, peculiarly a sacrifice of the Law. The idea of propitiation was no doubt latent in earlier sacrifices, but it was taught clearly and distinctly in the Levitical sin-offering. By the order of sacrifice in its perfect form it is clear that the sin-offering occupies the most important place, the burnt-offering comes next, and the meal-offering or peace-offering last of all. The second could only be offered after the first had been accepted; the third was only a subsidiary part of the second. Yet, in actual order of time, the patriarchal sacrifices partook much more of the nature of the peace-offering and burnt-offering; and under the Law, by which was “the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20), the sin-offering was for the first time explicitly set forth. This is but natural, that the deepest ideas should be the last in order of development.

The nature and meaning of the various kinds of sacrifice is partly gathered from the form of their institution and ceremonial, partly from the teaching of the prophets, and partly from the New Testament, especially the Epistle to the Hebrews. All had relation, under different aspects, to a covenant between God and man. The sin-offering represented that covenant as broken by man, and as knit together again, by God’s appointment, through the “shedding of blood.” Its characteristic ceremony was the sprinkling of the blood before the veil of the sanctuary, the putting some of it on the horns of the altar of incense, and the pouring out of all the rest at the foot of the altar of burnt-offering. The shedding of the blood, the symbol of life, signified that the death of the offender was deserved for sin, but that the death of the victim was accepted for his death by the ordinance of God’s mercy. Beyond all doubt the sin-offering distinctly witnessed that sin existed in man, that the “wages of that sin was death,” and that God had provided an atonement by the vicarious suffering of an appointed victim. The ceremonial and meaning of the burnt-offering were very different. The idea of expiation seems not to have been absent from it, for the blood was sprinkled round about the altar of sacrifice; but the main idea is the offering of the whole victim to God, representing the devotion of the sacrificer, body and soul, to him. The meal-offering, the peace or thank-offering, the first-fruits, etc., were simply offerings to God of his own best gifts, as a sign of thankful homage, and as a means of maintaining his service and his servants. It is clear from this that the idea of sacrifice is a complex idea, involving the propitiatory, the dedicatory, and the eucharistic elements. Any one of these taken by itself would lead to error and superstition. All three, probably, were more or less implied in each sacrifice, each element predominating in its turn. Dic. B.

Lev. 4:2. If any one shall sin. The sin-offering was a new thing, instituted by the Law. It was plainly commanded that he who was conscious that he had committed a sin should bring his sin-offering. Clark.—The Law being now added because of transgressions (Gal. 3:19), and having entered, that eventually the offence might abound (Rom. 5:20), they were put into a way of making atonement for sin more particularly by sacrifice, which was a shadow of good things to come, but the substance is Christ, and that one offering of himself, by which he put away sin and perfected forever them which are sanctified. Sin is here described to be against any of the commandments of the Lord; for sin is the transgression of the Law, the Divine Law. The wits or wills of men, their inventions or their injunctions, cannot make that to be sin which the Law of God has not made to be so. It is said likewise, if a soul sin, for it is not sin if it be not some way or other the soul’s act; hence it is called the sin of the soul (Mic. 6:7), and it is the soul that is injured by it. H.

2-4. The benefits of Christ’s atonement, in order to be available, must be personally apprehended. However intrinsically sufficient for the salvation of all men, none will be the better for it who do not for themselves make use of it. The offending priest, or ruler, or common person must himself bring his sin-offering, must lay his own hands upon its head, must thus show how nearly he felt himself to be concerned in the ceremony; and every sinner now must individually bring this sacrifice of Christ, in faith, as the atonement for his own sin. Bush.

4:2. Sin unwittingly. The sinning is qualified by the term bishqaqah, not strictly in ignorance, as the English Bible puts it, but by e-ring, by mistake, or oversight. The expression is partly explained by an additional clause, as at verse 13, where the thing said to have been done bishqaqah is represented as “hid from the eyes of the congregation,” and only afterward becomes known to them; and again at verses 23, 28, where the discovery of the sin is spoken of as the occasion of offering the sacrifice. Then we have sins of this description contrasted with “sins with a high hand”—that is, sins committed in deliberate defiance of the authority of heaven. For sins of this description no sin-offering was to be allowed, while it would be accepted for the others. But while unconscious and unintentional sins were primarily meant, yet they include many that were done knowingly and intentionally—sins of infirmity, committed in the violence of passion, under some powerful temptation, or from some motive appealing to the weaker part of the soul, as distinguished from deliberate and settled malice. Some of the cases specified at the beginning of ch. 5, as among those for which sin-offerings might be presented, put it beyond a doubt that sins of that description were to be understood. These were plainly things which could not have happened without knowledge of the transgressor; but they betrayed hastiness of spirit, or the moral weakness which could not resist a present temptation. Viewed in this light, too, they cannot be regarded otherwise than as specimens of a class.

Diversity of Appointed Victims (Lev. 4:5).

In respect to the choice of victims we meet with a striking diversity, according to the position of the party for whom the offering was to be made. There was thus, by means of a graduated scale in the offerings, brought out the important lesson that while all sin is offensive in the sight of God, so as by whomsoever committed to deserve a penalty, which can only be averted by the blood of atonement, it grows in offensiveness with the position and number of transgressors; and the higher in privileges, the nearer to God, so much greater is the guilt to be atoned. P. F.

The Treatment of the Blood, and of the Victim.

In sacrificing the burnt-offerings, the peace-offerings, and the trespass-offerings, we read that the priests were to “bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar.” In the sin-offerings, the priest had to take some of the blood with his finger and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and to pour out what remained at the bottom of the altar. This was all that was required for the blood of the sin-offering for one of the common people, or for a ruler. But in the sin-offering for the congregation and that for the high-priest, in addition to these two processes, the high-priest himself had to bring a portion of the blood into the sanctuary, to sprinkle it with his finger seven times before the veil, and to put some of it upon the horns of the altar of incense. Clark. —The chief and most distinctive peculiarity in the sin-offering was the action with the blood, which though variously employed was always used so as to give a relatively strong and intense expression to the ideas of sin and atonement. The highest expression which could be given by means of the blood was presented when the high-priest, on the Day of Atonement, went with the blood of his own and the people’s sin-offering into the most holy place, and sprinkled the mercy-seat—the very place of Jehovah’s throne. In this action the sin appeared, on the one hand, rising to its most dreadful form of a condemning witness in the presence chamber of God, and, on the other, the atonement assumed the appearance of so perfect and complete a satisfaction that the sinner could come nigh to the seat of God, and return again not only unscathed but with an assurance that the entire mass of guilt was cast into the gulf of oblivion. P. F.

Lev. 4:3. If the anointed priest shall sin. He begins with the high-priest, who alone bore the high distinction of the holy unction. The more illustrious his dignity, the more diligently and zealously ought his life to be confirmed to the model of holiness; therefore the infirmity which was tolerable in others was exceedingly reprehensible in him. For this reason it was required that he should atone for himself with a greater victim. Cole.

12. The whole bullock. It was to be carried out of the camp, and there to be burned in a fire on the ground. This was to signify that the offerer was in a perfect state of guilt, unfit to communicate with God; and that, like the offering itself, he deserved to be excluded from the society of his people till he was reconciled by this sacrifice made in his stead: and thus Christ, who was made a sin-offering for us, suffered “without the camp”—that is, “without the gate” of Jerusalem, of whose expiation for us this offering was a type and figure (Heb. 13:11, 12). Pyle.—In the sin-offering, the animal was carried outside the camp and consumed there. The Hebrew word used for burning upon the altar is the same that is used for the burning of incense in the holy place, with which the happiest and most delightful thoughts are always connected. But the word applied to the burning of the sin-offering without the camp is an entirely different word, meaning to barn up, to destroy. The body of death was carried far out to a clean place without the camp, and there burned and destroyed. Is not the symbolism very instructive? “As far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Our sins, where are they? Away, without the camp, out of sight, destroyed, forgotten. Ourselves, where are we? Our life is now not only on the altar, but carried into the holy place, there hid in the secret of his presence. Or to give it in New Testament form: “we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). And what is the foundation of all this? Behold the altar: at its base the blood of atonement plentifully poured out; on its summit the fat of the sacrifice arising with acceptance before God. J. M. G.

3,13,22,27. Thus we have—If a priest do sin—If a ruler sin—If the whole congregation sin—If any one of the common people sin. God will not have any man permitted to sin with impunity. He does not release a priest from the obligations which he imposes upon the common people, nor will he excuse the common people because they are not priests. Now what says the New Testament about priest, ruler, congregation, common people?—“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” It is still the way of blood. Blood means life, reality, Divine agony, an outpouring of the soul. Sin has not changed its character, nor can the method of sin’s redemption be changed as to its highest expression and meaning. “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” J. P.

Lev. 4:26, 31, 35. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. The sin thus covered had in fact no longer any existence. As regards the sinner, it had been transferred to the head of the sacrifice; as regards God and the claims of Divine justice, it had met its deserts in the death of the vicarious oblation. So that the sinner was thus “covered upon from his sin,” which henceforth occupied a separate sphere of existence; a truth which found its fullest expression in the dismissal of the live goat of the sin-offering on the Day of Atonement with the expiated or covered sins of the congregation. The ground of offence had been taken out of the way; and on this reconciliation ensued. With regard to the transgressor it is intimated, “It is forgiven to him.” D. M.

Lev. 5:1. If a person be adjured in the name of God to speak the truth when he is called to be a witness in any cause, “whether he hath seen or known of it”—that is, whether he can speak to the matter either from his own knowledge or from the information of credible witnesses, and do not “utter it,” then he shall “bear his iniquity,” or be deemed guilty and liable to punishment. Bp. Kidder.—4. Or if any one swear. That is, if a person swear rashly and inconsiderately in the common affairs of life that he will or will not do something, whether good or evil, and if “it be hid from him”—that is, if he have not rightly considered the thing before whether it was in his power or not; whether it were lawful or not; or if through forgetfulness he omit to do what he might have done when he knoweth it, “he shall be guilty.” Bp. Patrick.

Nu. 15:30, 31. The presumptuous sinner, literally he who sinned “with a high hand,” might or might not have committed such a crime as to incur punishment from the civil law: it was enough that he had with deliberate purpose rebelled against God, and ipso facto was “cut off from among his people” and alienated from the Divine covenant. Clark.—He who, when his iniquity comes to his knowledge, refuses to offer such a sacrifice, sins obstinately and wilfully, and to him there remains no other sacrifice for sin, no other mode by which he can be reconciled to God; and this seems the case to which the apostle alludes (Heb. 10:26). A. C.

Men attempt to reform what is amiss; they subject themselves to stricter regulations; they multiply the rules of watchfulness and sobriety; but still the sense of guilt returns. They then have recourse to resolutions of future time, hoping they shall be able to make some atonement by a more correct deportment; but when the Law comes in its purity and extent they find all this is vain; that it demands nothing short of perfect obedience; that the penalty has been incurred; that they are already condemned, and are only waiting for the season of retribution; that they are shut up, they cannot escape. But no sooner are they enabled, in consequence of the despair of any other remedy, and as they find no other resource, to look to the blood of Christ as cleansing from all sin, than there they find a solid ground of hope; there the conflict is at an end; and they see that they have nothing to do but humbly to receive reconciliation. Peace with God has been made, justice has been satisfied, and only waits to see the sinner confessing his sins over the head of that victim and asking for mercy in that name. R. Hall.

Here is an offender, standing pensive and awe-struck before the altar of burnt-offering. He has presented his victim; he has laid on it the hand of confession and imputation; he has seen it deprived of life and laid upon the blazing altar; he has gazed upon the series of symbolical actions expressive of the atoning work and satisfaction to God. But one thing is yet wanting to assure him of his individual participation in this justifying righteousness; he receives from the hyssop-branch the sacred drops upon his vestment and his person. His pardon is sealed. He says, with a new consciousness, “I am free! This oblation avails for me! God remits my guilt for the sake of sacrifice!” Now all this takes place in a New Testament sense. The convinced sinner has a clear view of the plan of remedy provided in the Gospel, and of Jesus Christ as the one atoning ing sacrifice. At the cross he confesses his sins. He beholds there a propitiation amply adequate for the pardon of a world. He approves the method, and honors its wisdom and love. He perceives the Law exalted and God’s anger turned away. This, so far as it goes, is faith; but peace is in abeyance. He knows Christ to be a Saviour, but he falters in claiming Christ a Saviour for him, until, O blessed moment! the veil is rent, the priest returns from the most holy place, and sprinkles him with the peace-speaking blood. Now he can cry, “I know whom I have believed;” “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief;” “My beloved is mine, and I am his;” “My Lord and my God!” J. W. A.

There is no sin-offering required of us now. “It is finished.” “By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” But thank-offerings we should present continually, and votive offerings, in the spirit of the 116th Psalm. And not only so, but we should present ourselves as a whole burnt-offering. “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your bodies and with your spirits, which are his.” No more appropriate close to this great subject could be imagined than that grand benediction with which the subject is closed in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Now may the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect [there is the ark, there is the Law, there is the goal of HOLINESS which must ever be full in the view of the worshipper at the altar] in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” J. M. G.