[NOTE.—Ex. 40 : 12-15 ; 29 : 1-34 omitted because repetitions of other text ; and Lev. 6 : 19-23, because containing only special instructions as to the meal offering.]

Ex. 29 35 And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee : seven days shalt thou consecrate them. And every day shalt thou offer the bullock of sin offering for atonement : and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou makest atonement for it ; and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. Seven days thou shalt make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it : and the altar shall be most holy ; whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.

Lev. 8 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bullock of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread ; and assemble thou all the congregation at the door of the tent of meeting. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him ; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the tent of meeting. And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded to be done. And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the cunningly woven band of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith. And he placed the breastplate upon him : and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. And he set the mitre upon his head ; and upon the mitre, in front, did he set the golden plate, the holy crown ; as the LORD commanded Moses. And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the laver and its base, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. And Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with coats, and girded them with girdles, and bound headtires upon them ; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he brought the bullock of the sin offering : and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock of the sin offering. And he slew it ; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and

17 their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar. But the bullock, and its skin, and its flesh, 18 and its dung, he burnt with fire without the camp : as the LORD commanded Moses. And he presented the ram of the burnt offering : and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the 19 head of the ram. And he killed it : and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round 20 about. And he cut the ram into its pieces ; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and 21 the fat. And he washed the inwards and the legs with water ; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar : it was a burnt offering for a sweet savour : it was an offering made by 22 fire unto the LORD ; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he presented the other ram, the 23 ram of consecration : and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it ; and Moses took of the blood thereof, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, 24 and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot : and Moses sprinkled 25 the blood upon the altar round about. And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and 26 the right thigh : and out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, 27 and upon the right thigh : and he put the whole upon the hands of Aaron, and upon the 28 hands of his sons, and waved them for a wave offering before the LORD. And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering : they were a 29 consecration for a sweet savour : it was an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD : it was Moses’ portion of 30 the ram of consecration ; as the LORD commanded Moses. And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, upon his gar- ments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him ; and sanctified Aaron, his 31 garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the tent of meeting : and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it. 32 And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. And ye shall 33 not go out from the door of the tent of meeting seven days, until the days of your consecra- 34 tion be fulfilled : for he shall consecrate you seven days. As hath been done this day so the 35 LORD hath commanded to do, to make atonement for you. And at the door of the tent of meeting shall ye abide day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die 36 not : for so I am commanded. And Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses

Ex. 29 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel ; and the Tent shall be sanctified 44 by my glory. And I will sanctify the tent of meeting, and the altar : Aaron also and his sons 45 will I sanctify, to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children 46 of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them : I am the LORD their God.

NOTE.—Various schemes have been suggested for harmonizing statements of the record re- specting the setting up and anointing the taber- nacle, occupying seven days, and fully completed on the first day of the second year ; the offer- ings of the princes, beginning on the same day and continuing twelve days besides ; the conse- cration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, requiring seven days ; the dedication of the Le- vites ; and the inauguration of the sanctuary service by Aaron. As best agreeing with the many references in Exodus, Leviticus, and Num- bers, and as itself the most natural, we cite the view of Dr. Murphy : “The order of events may have been the following : In the process of setting up the tabernacle, which is carried on for seven days, and consummated on the first day of the second year, the consecration of the priests takes place as an essential and concur- rent part of the whole ceremony. On the day of its consummation the princes appear prepared with their offerings. The wagons and oxen may have been accepted then and there, and the arrangement made for the successive pres- entation of their sacrifices on the twelve fol- lowing days. Hence their offerings will have been completed on the fourteenth day of the month, when the first passover took place. The dedication of the Levites, narrated after the offerings of the princes, and before the account of the passover, may have taken place on the third of the first month, so that they would as soon as possible be regularly qualified to assist the priests in the extraordinary duties they were now called on to perform. Thus everything would be duly arranged for the orderly celebration of the passover on the proper day." A single difficulty remains without solution, but as it is of no practical moment, we forbear to state it. B.

We now arrive at the second part of the legal worship—i.e., the priesthood. All the splendor of the tabernacle would have been an empty parade without the priest, who so mediated as an intercessor that he reconciled men to God, and in a manner united heaven to earth. In this it is unquestionable that the Levitical priests were the representatives of Christ. Calv.

In order that the reader may keep in mind a clear and intelligent impression of the connection subsisting between the several divisions of the ceremonial laws, we repeat here the substance of the note presented in Section 120. A full and accurate classification of these laws is as follows: First. Positive institutes relating to worship. These are (1) Its appointed place, and accompanying external media—viz., the tabernacle and court, with their furniture; (2) Its appointed ministry—viz., priests and Levites; (3) Its appointed rites—viz., sacrificial and other offerings; and (4) Its appointed times—viz., Sabbatic periods and festivals. Second. The minor ceremonial adjuncts of a preceptive character, remedial, corrective, and prohibitory. In this section we enter upon the consideration of the second of the positive institutes relating to worship—namely, its appointed ministry. B.

The Separation of Aaron and his Sons.

We are already familiar with the use that has been made of separation to inculcate the absolute necessity of holiness in order to intercourse with God. Abraham was separated from an idolatrous and wicked world, to be the head of a family and a nation that should be holy to the Lord; and accordingly, in comparison with the heathen world Israel as a whole was a priesthood, as is set forth in Ex. 19:6: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Now the same principle is farther carried out. From the entire nation one tribe, the tribe of Levi, is set apart to be, above all the others, holy unto the Lord. From the tribe of Levi, one family, that of Aaron, is set apart to be, above all the other families of the tribe, holy unto the Lord. And finally, from the family of Aaron a single individual, the high-priest, is set apart to be, above all the other members of the family, holy unto the Lord.

J. M. G.—The special distinction belonging to the priesthood was their right to draw near to God—a right which grew out of their election of God, and their eminent holiness, as the end and consummation to which these pointed. The question in the rebellion of Korah was, Who were in such a sense chosen by God, and holy, as to be privileged to draw near to him? And the decision of God was given in the words: “And him whom he chooses will he make to draw near to himself.” P. F.

Lev. 8:4. The spot designated was the portion of the court in front of the tabernacle. Toward this space the people were commanded to assemble to witness the great national ceremony of the consecration of the priesthood, the solemn setting apart of one of their families, the members of which were henceforth to stand as mediators between them and Jehovah in carrying out the precepts of the ceremonial law. Those who could do so may have come into the court, and a great number of others may have occupied the heights which overlooked the enclosure of the court. As the series of ceremonies was repeated every day during a week (verse 33), it is natural to suppose that some of the people attended on one day and some on another. Clark.

The consecration of Aaron and his sons to their high functions in the service of the tabernacle was not to be a matter of the conclave—it was not to be an affair that should be enacted with closed doors. On the contrary, “the congregation was assembled at the door of the tent of meeting.” In what mode and order this was done we are not informed. The chiefs of the people and their subalterns knew well what they were about; and the people under their guidance knew in what way they should answer to the call, and how they should follow the banner of their tribe. The substantial purpose was effected—the consecration of the Aaronic family was participated in by the Great Ecclesia. All was therefore valid and authentic; and a record of this transaction—an entry, accordingly, is made in the very heart of the ordinance thereto relating I. T.

The commission read (verse 5). Moses, who was God’s representative in this solemnity, produced his orders before the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done. Though God had crowned him king in Jeshurum, when he made his face to shine in the sight of all Israel; yet he did not institute or appoint anything in God’s worship but what God himself had commanded. The priesthood he delivered to them was that which he had received from the Lord. All that minister about holy things must be able to say, in all acts of religious worship, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done. H.—Moses on this occasion, by an extraordinary commission from God, executed himself the office of high-priest on this and the six following days. The various ceremonies by which the procedure was to be marked were calculated to affect the incumbents with the greatness and sacredness of the work to which they were called, and also to lead the people to magnify and reverence an office in which their interests were so deeply involved. The whole transaction was to be so conducted that there should be ample evidence that Aaron and his sons did not “glorify themselves to be made priests,” but that they were “called of God” to exercise the sacerdotal functions. Bush.—It is intimated that Gospel ministers are to be solemnly set apart to the work of the ministry, with great deliberation and seriousness both in the ordainers and in the ordained, as those that are to be employed in a great work, and intrusted with a great charge. H.—Aaron and his sons were originally sanctified, externally, by a series of most solemn offerings and ceremonies. Hence no absurdity can be more obvious or more gross than an unholy character in a man whose professional business it is to minister to God. The very heathen were so sensible of this that their priests claimed generally and labored to preserve that character which they esteemed sanctity. Dwight.—Every sin which is committed by a minister of religion is more than one: and it is as soon espied too; for men look more upon the sun in an eclipse than when he is in his beauty; but every spot in a minister is greater, every mote is a beam; it is not only made so, but it is so; it hath not the excuses of the people, and is not pitiable by the measures of their infirmity. Bp. Taylor.

Lev. 8:7-9. If we picture to ourselves the view of the Aaronic high-priest standing now arrayed complete in his spotless robes, “bearing upon his breast” the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and bearing upon his forehead the gleaming golden band inscribed “Holiness to the Lord,” then may we get some conception of the office which Christ, our High Priest, is still discharging for us. And in that mysterious “Urim and Thummim,” which he bore also with the breast-plate, may we catch a faint glimpse of the functions of our prophet priest. S. R.

The essential significance of the priesthood lay not in the native holiness or super-eminent fitness of its members for their exalted position, but in four attributes—its Divine election, its attributed holiness, its nearer access, and its official service. A most minute and varied symbolism had been invented by which to convey to the dullest mind the high regard in which the entire order of the priesthood was divinely held, and by which to impress upon the coarsest nature within the hierarchy itself the purity of character and act divinely demanded of the priest. Exactly the same attributes were visible in the high-priest in an intensified form. His Divine call was consequent upon his birth. “Holiness to the Lord” was conspicuous upon his mitre. His dedication to the Lord was apparent in every official act. His privilege of Divine access, ordinarily seen in his daily ministrations at the altar of incense, was most plainly witnessed in the solemn ritual of the Day of Atonement. And what could more conclusively bespeak his exceptional mediation than his daily passage, with the breast-plate and its twelve representative stones glittering in the light, within the curtain of the holy place? Cave.

10-12. Moses first anointed with the holy oil the tabernacle and all that was therein—that is, the ark of the covenant, the table of shewbread, the candlestick, and the golden altar, with all the articles that belonged to them; he then sprinkled the altar of burnt-offering with the oil seven times and anointed it, with all its utensils, and the laver with its foot; last of all, he poured some of the oil on the head of Aaron, and conferred on him “the crown of the anointing oil of his God” (Lev. 21:12). As investing the priest with official garments was a recognition before men of the official position of the person, the anointing him with oil was an acknowledgment that all fitness for his office, all the powers with which he would rightly fulfil its duties, must come from the Lord. In the anointing of the sanctuary with its contents and of the altar with its utensils the same idea evidently held its place. As Aaron was sanctified by the act, so were they sanctified (verses 10, 11, 12). The pouring the oil on the head of Aaron stands in the narrative as the culmination of the ceremony of anointing. All the holy things had been made after the heavenly patterns shown to Moses in the mount, and each of them was intended by Divine wisdom to convey a spiritual meaning to the mind of man. They were means of grace to the devout worshipper. The oil poured upon them was a recognition of this fact, and at the same time it made them holy and set them apart from all ordinary uses. Clark.—This sacred anointing seems to have been considered as investing with a peculiar sanctity the person on whom it had been conferred. We see this in the reverence with which “the Lord’s anointed” is on all occasions mentioned in Scripture. Bush.

The rites of consecration proclaimed the necessity of holiness—a holiness not their own, but bestowed on them by the grace of God; and following upon this and flowing from the same source, a plentiful endowment of gifts for their sacred office, with the manifest seal of Heaven’s fellowship and approval. They were first brought to the door of the tabernacle and washed. The body being thus purified, the garments were put on; and on the high-priest first, afterward on the other priests, was poured the holy anointing oil. In the case of the sons the anointing is declared to have constituted them “an everlasting priesthood through all their generations”—meaning, as has been commonly understood, that the act did not need to be renewed in respect to the ordinary members of the priesthood. This was the peculiar act of consecration, and symbolized the bestowal upon those who received it of the Spirit’s grace, so as to make them fit and active instruments in discharging the duties of God’s service. As such anointing had already stamped the tabernacle as God’s hallowed abode, so now did it hallow them to be his proper agents and servitors within its courts. P. F.

It appears from Isa. 61:1 that anointing with oil, in consecrating a person to any important office, was considered as an emblem of the communication of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. This ceremony was used on the installation of prophets, priests, and kings into their respective offices; to signify their being divinely appointed and qualified for the due performance of their several functions. As no man was ever dignified by holding the three offices, so no person ever had the title mashiah, the anointed one, but Jesus the Christ. He alone is the King who governs the universe and rules in the hearts of his followers; the Prophet, to instruct men in the way wherein they should go; and the great High-Priest, to make atonement for their sins. Hence he is called the Messiah, THE anointed ONE, in Hebrew; which gave birth to ho Christos, which has the same signification in Greek: of Him Melchisedech, Abraham, Aaron, David, and others were illustrious types. But none of these had the title of THE MESSIAH, or THE ANOINTED of GOD. This does and ever will belong exclusively to JESUS the CHRIST. A. C.—In the anointing of the high-priest, we plainly read the connection between the work of Christ and the agency of the Holy Spirit. As the oil there sanctified all, so the Spirit here seals and works in all. By the power of the Spirit was the flesh of Christ conceived; with the fulness of the Spirit he was endowed at his baptism; all his works were wrought in the Spirit, and by the Spirit he at last offered himself without spot to God. P. F.

The writer to the Hebrews shows us at great length the immeasurable superiority of the dispensation of Christ to the typical dispensation of Aaron and his descendants. He shows us that the covenant of Christ is better, for it is a covenant of grace; the consecration of Christ better, for it was attested with the solemnity of a Divine oath; the sacrifice of Christ better, for it alone can truly take away sins; the priesthood of Christ better, for it is everlasting. He establishes the pre-eminence of the sacrifice and the priesthood, by insisting on the singleness of the sacrifice, and the perpetuity of the priesthood. On the one hand he declares, that “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,” that “by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,” that “there is no more offering for sin.” On the other hand he affirms that the Divine priest of this sacrifice is constituted priest “after the power of an endless life,” that he is a “priest forever,” that he is, in this priestly office, “able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This priesthood of Christ, then, being perpetual, yet employing but a single sacrificial act, it must consist in a constant reference to that sacrifice, of which his own blessed person stands in heaven as the undying memorial W. A. B.

Thus far Moses, in the presence of the people, has invested Aaron with the high priestly robes and insignia, and anointed him in connection with the anointing of the sanctuary and its holy things. Next (verse 13) he proceeds to the investiture of Aaron’s sons with a simpler attire, consisting of coat and girdle and head-tire. B.—Then followed (verses 14-29) sacrifices for Aaron and his sons; a sin-offering, a burnt-offering, and a peace-offering. The sin-offering, which here consisted of a bullock, was a kind of expiation by which they were first of all to be purified. By the ceremony of putting their hands upon the head of the victim was signified that the offerer had need of a sacrifice to atone for his sins; that he symbolically transferred his sins to the victim; that he trusted that although he deserved himself to die, yet the death of the animal which he thus devoted to God would be accepted as an expiation for his sins, so as to avert from him punishment. The same ceremony of imposition of hands was enjoined upon every one who brought a sacrifice for his sins (Lev. 4:24, 29). And what could more strikingly represent the fact that, in the economy of redemption, the sins of men are imputed to Christ, “upon whom the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all.” Bush.

The Bullock for a Sin-offering (verses 14-17).

Moses as the mediator of the covenant of the Law (Gal. 3:19; Heb. 8:6) was called to perform the priestly functions, in consecrating those on whom henceforth those functions were to devolve, and in inaugurating the legal order of sacrifices. In the same capacity he had performed the daily service of the sanctuary from the day of the setting up of the tabernacle and the altar. The sin-offering was now offered for the first time. The succession in which the sacrifices followed each other on this occasion, first the sin-offering, then the burnt-offering, and lastly the peace-offering, has its ground in the meaning of each sacrifice, and became the established custom in later ages. Clark.

We begin to see the verification of the apostle’s saying, that almost all things are by the Law purged “with blood.” The allusions in the Book of Hebrews to the observances of the Mosaic ritual are most valuable, and prove that they are both buttresses and illustrations of evangelical truth. T. C.

15. The altar of burnt-offering had been sanctified by the anointing oil (verse 11) like the priests who were to officiate at it; it was now, like them, sanctified by blood. The anointing with oil consecrated it for its special purpose in the service of Jehovah, but it was now anointed with blood as an acknowledgment of the alienation of all nature, in itself, from God, and the need of a reconciliation to him of all things by blood. The purpose of the formal consecration of the sanctuary and of the priests who served in it was that the whole nation which Jehovah had set free from its bondage in Egypt might be consecrated in its daily life, and dwell continually in his presence as “a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” Clark.

And sanctified it to atone for it. We are to notice the distinction between this sentence and “anointed to sanctify” (verse 12). The latter points to sanctification as the end, the former to propitiation. Sanctification and propitiation, though perfectly distinct, go hand in hand. The application of the blood implies sanctification, because in this application the sinner lays his hand on the victim, which act involves a change of mind. The blood itself effects the atonement. M.

The Ram for a Burnt-offering (verses 18-21).

Atonement having been made, Aaron and his sons were now permitted, by the laying on of their hands, to make themselves one with the victim, which was to be sent up to Jehovah as “a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.” There was no peculiarity in the mode of offering this sacrifice. All was done strictly according to the ritual, except that Moses performed the duties of the priest. Clark.—A Jewish writer says: “It is proper to notice the order in which these sacrifices were offered. First an atonement for sins was made by the sin-offering, of which nothing but the fat was offered to God; because the offerers were not yet worthy of God’s acceptance of a gift from them. But after they had been purified, to indicate their being devoted to the sacred office, they immolated to God a holocaust, which was entirely consumed upon the altar. And after the holocaust, or burnt-offering, they offered a peace-offering, of which part used to be given to God, part to the priests, and part to the offerers, and which was to indicate their being now received into favor with God, so as to use one common table with him.” To this we may add, that the ram was wholly burned to the honor of God, in token of the dedication of themselves wholly to God and to his service as living sacrifices, kindled with the fire and ascending in the flame of holy love. Bush.

The Ram of Consecration for a Peace-offering (verses 22-29).

That the ram now offered and called “the ram of consecration” was truly a peace-offering will be obvious from what is said in verses 28, 32. It is called the ram of consecration, because there was more in this sacrifice that was peculiar to the present occasion than in either of the others. The blood instead of being merely sprinkled on the horns of the altar or effused round about it, was shared, as it were, between God and them; part of it being sprinkled and part put upon their bodies and their garments. It was intended to imply that they ought to devote diligently their ears, their hands, and their feet, all their faculties of mind and body to the discharge of their ministerial office. Bush.—

By the hands and feet the whole life and actions of men are designated. In which view the cleanness of the heart and the purity of the hands comprehend all that is internal and external in man, as the root and the fruit. As to the feet the metaphor of walking is notorious; and the feet are said to run to evil and to be swift to shed blood, when the wicked betake themselves to evil deeds. Since this consecration was not to the office of teaching but to that of intercession, the ear rather than the tongue is stained with blood; because the chief virtue which obtains grace in the sacrifices is obedience. Calc.

The renderings of the Targums, the Syriac, and Saadia all mean “the ram of completion.” This offering was in the highest sense the sacrifice of completion or fulfilling, as being the central point of the consecrating rite. The final perfection of the creature is consecration to the LORD. Clark.

27,28. Moses was now to Aaron and his sons what they were afterward to the children of Israel; and as the minister of God, he now consecrates them to the sacred office, and presents their offerings to Jehovah. Although Moses himself had no consecration to the sacerdotal office, yet he acts here as high-priest, consecrates a high-priest, and receives the breast and the shoulder, which were the priests’ portion! But Moses was an extraordinary messenger, and derived his authority immediately from God himself. It does not appear that Christ either baptized the twelve apostles or ordained them by imposition of hands; yet from his own infinite sufficiency he gave them authority both to baptize and to lay on hands in appointing others to the work of the sacred ministry. A. C.

30. Moses had put this holy life-giving blood upon Aaron (verse 23); upon his right ear, to sanctify it to a ready and attentive listening to the Law of God; upon his right hand and his right foot, that the one might be hallowed for the presentation of sacred gifts to God, and the other for treading his courts and running the way of his commandments. And now, to complete the ceremony, Aaron receives on his person and his garments a second anointing with the oil and this blood of consecration mingled together—symbolizing the new life of God, in which he is henceforth to live in conjunction with the Spirit. So that the Levitical priesthood appeared emphatically as one coming “by water and by blood.” It spoke aloud, in all its rites of consecration, of sin on man’s part, and holiness on God’s. P. F.—The union of the two symbols of the atoning blood and the inspiring unction appears to be a fit conclusion of the entire rite. Clark.

33. Seven days shall be consecrate you. That is, Moses shall consecrate you. The number seven among the Hebrews was the number of perfection, and the seven days of consecration implied a full and perfect consecration to the sacerdotal office, and intimated that their whole lives were to be devoted to this solemn service. Bush.—The whole was repeated seven times, on as many successive days—because seven was the symbol of the oath or covenant, and indicated here that the consecration to the priestly office was a strictly covenant transaction. P. F.

Ex. 29:36, 37. Here it appears that the seven days of consecration were at the same time seven days of hallowment or dedication of the altar. They apply not only to the priests, but to the tabernacle and its sacred furniture. M.

Ex. 29:45. I will dwell among the children of Israel. This is the great charter of the people of God, both under the Old and New Testaments. God dwells among them—He is ever to be found in his Church, to enlighten, quicken, comfort, and support it—to dispense the light of life by the preaching of his Word and the influences of his Spirit. And He dwells in those who believe; and this is the very tenor of the New Covenant which God promised to make with the house of Israel (see Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 37:24-28; Heb. 8:7-12; 2 Cor. 6:16). And because God had promised to dwell in all his genuine followers, hence the frequent reference to this covenant and its privileges in the New Testament. And hence it is so frequently and strongly asserted that every believer is a habitation of God through the Spirit; that the Spirit of God witnesses with their spirits that they are the children of God, and that the Spirit of Christ in their hearts enables them to call God their Father. A. C.

In the Hebrew ritual there was a real priesthood—real offerings and sacrifices—real purifications—real cleansings and expiations—real blessings obtained and bestowed on those who worshipped before the Presence according to the ritual. To answer the true meaning of this ritual, the Christ was to be a real High-Priest—to offer a real sacrifice—to obtain real blessings, and to bestow them on those who shall receive him, the Messiah, by believing in his name; for the Messiah was to be in truth what the ritual represented in figure. Lowman.

The particular manner in which Christ interposed in the redemption of the world, or his office as Mediator in the largest sense between God and man, is thus represented to us in the Scripture: “He is the light of the world;” the revealer of the will of God in the most eminent sense: he is a propitiatory sacrifice; “the Lamb of God;” and as he voluntarily offered himself up, he is styled our High-Priest. And, which seems of peculiar weight, he is described beforehand in the Old Testament under the same characters of a priest and expiatory victim. The doctrine of the Epistle to the Hebrews plainly is, that the legal sacrifices were allusions to the great and final atonement to be made by the blood of Christ; and not that this was an allusion to those. Nor can anything be more express and determinate than the following passage: “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin, Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering”—i.e., of bulls and of goats, “thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me—Lo, I come to do thy will. O God. By which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Bp. Butler.—“While the old priesthood, by reason of death, could not continue, our priest having, once for all, offered up himself our sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God;” “by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” “Wherefore we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil—that is to say, his flesh, and we may draw near in full assurance of faith.” Such being the case, there is no longer any place for a priest and altar in the earthly Church. For, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and consecrated by the sprinkling of his blood on their consciences and anointed with the unction of the Holy Ghost, Christ’s people are “a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” The humblest of them all is privileged to draw near through Christ even into the holiest of all. They have freedom of access for themselves and their offerings to God. S. R.

The priesthood was originally appointed to remain in Aaron’s family through all succeeding generations, and no one who was not of that lineage might intrude into the sacred office. Aaron was succeeded by Eleazar, his eldest surviving son, and it continued in his family through seven generations, till the time of Eli. On his death it was removed from that branch for the wickedness of Eli’s sons, and given to the descendants of Ithamar, Aaron’s other son. In the time of Solomon it returned again into the line of Eleazar, in which it continued till the Babylonish captivity. Jeshua, the first high-priest after the return of the Jews, was of the same family; but after his time the appointment became very uncertain and irregular; and after Judea became a Roman province, no regard whatever was paid to this part of the original Divine institution. The office was in fact in process of time so far desecrated in the general corruption that it was often sold to the highest bidder, whether of the family or not; and so things continued till finally the nation had filled up the measure of its iniquities, and priest, altar, and temple were all swept away in the abolition of the Jewish economy and the dispersion of the race. Bush.

The Jewish high-priest was a type of him who is called the high-priest over the house of God (Heb. 10:21), and when He came, the functions of the other necessarily ceased. The Jewish sacrifices were never resumed after the destruction of their city and temple; for they hold it unlawful to sacrifice anywhere out of Jerusalem; and the unction of their high-priests ceased from that period also; because the true Priest and the true Sacrifice were come. A. C.

Ex. 29:38. Day by day continually. Nu. 28:3. A continual burnt-offering. Two lambs of the first year were to be offered daily, the one in the morning, the other in the afternoon, for a burnt-offering. These were generally termed the morning and evening daily sacrifice, and were never on any account to be intermitted. Other additional sacrifices were appointed for Sabbaths and festivals on various occasions, but they were never to be allowed to displace, supersede, or interfere with this stated and constant offering, which was binding in its observance inasmuch as it typified the never-ceasing necessity and efficacy of the atonement made by the “Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” It conveyed also to the people of God of that age and of every age a significant intimation of the duty of daily morning and evening worship. Bush.—Whether there were any other sacrifices to be offered or not, these were sure to be offered, to make atonement for their daily sins, and to be an acknowledgment to God of their daily mercies. This was that which the duty of every day required. This teaches us to offer up to God the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise every day, morning and evening, in humble acknowledgment of our dependence upon him, and our obligations to him. H.

This was the most familiar feature of the whole service. As the altar stood in the court, all the people could see it; and it was always to be seen. The morning lamb had scarcely disappeared when the evening lamb was brought, and again the evening lamb remained on the altar till the morning lamb was offered in its place, so that practically the sacrificial lamb was always there, night and day continually. As the devout Israelite looked at this sacrifice upon the altar, he had these words of the Law to help him: “This shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet you to speak there unto thee” (Ex. 29:42). He had also those very numerous passages which connected the slaying of the animal with his sin, and the offering of the blood upon the altar with an atonement for it. How, then, could he fail to see in that smoking sacrifice a most impressive sermon on the exceeding sinfulness and fatal consequences of sin, on the need of an atonement to take away that sin before there could be a meeting between him and God; and above all, an assurance of the fact that there was forgiveness for him, and a way opened by which notwithstanding his sinfulness he might draw near to God. You have only to read the Psalms to have evidence of the impressiveness with which these great lessons were wrought into the hearts and lives of those who were Israelites indeed. J. M. G.

They called it the “continual” sacrifice, because God commanded it to be offered through all generations; but it appears from Daniel that it ceased at the coming of Christ; for so speaks the angel: Christ “shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the continual sacrifice, and the oblation to cease” (Dan. 9:27). Hence we assuredly gather that by this sacrifice the minds of the people were directed to Christ. Cde.—Every day, therefore, a kind of gospel was proclaimed of Divine mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with its invariable postulates of human sin and decadence, death and guilt. Cace.