The offerings which were now concluded had a reference to the whole people; it remained that individuals should offer for themselves, both [thank-offerings] and burnt-offerings, in order not to appear empty-handed before Jehovah. The thank-offerings might only be offered on this day, the burnt-offerings on the following day also. Elisama had bought a goat without blemish, for a thank-offering, in the court of the Gentiles. The choicest parts, the breast and the shoulder, belonged to the priest, the fat to Jehovah; all the rest was cooked in some of the out-buildings of the temple: for Iddo had made engagements for their feasting there. On this day no other flesh might be eaten, than that of thank-offerings; the majority of those who sacrificed carried the portions which they retained for themselves, to consume them in their houses or their tents. Elisama had invited to his feast, his host, his host’s family, and some Levites; bearing in mind the precept, “Thou shalt not neglect the Levites as long as thou livest upon the earth.”[[119]] They assembled in a saloon allotted for this purpose, in one of the courts on the south. Elisama, as the offerer of the sacrifice, blessed the bread and the wine, and they were all merry and thanked the Lord. Helon, to whom this meal, eaten within the precincts of the temple, seemed like an anticipation of his future priestly functions, thought of the passage of Isaiah, “They that have gathered corn shall consume it and praise Jehovah, and they that bring in their wine shall drink it in the courts of the sanctuary.”[[120]]
They remained together till the evening sacrifice, and Helon did not leave the temple till after it, in order that he might witness the ceremony of the [wave-sheaf]. This is the commencement of harvest, which begins at the time of the Passover, with the barley (in the warm valley of the Jordan still earlier) and is finished about Pentecost, with the wheat. Every thing which concerned the people of Israel, the harvest especially, must begin and end with religious solemnity.
At sunset, the citizens who had been appointed to cut the wave-sheaf by the Sanhedrim came down through the courts, accompanied by a great concourse of people, and Helon joined in the procession. They went to the nearest field of barley before the city: the sixteenth of Nisan was begun, and the evening star was already visible in the sky. The person who was appointed to reap asked aloud, “Is the sun gone down?” The people who stood around answered, Yes.—“Shall I cut.” “Yes.”—“With this sickle?” “Yes.”—“In this basket?” “Yes.” The questions, thrice repeated, being thrice answered in the affirmative, he cut as much as would furnish an omer, and binding the sheaves together, carried them to the temple. The barley was there roasted by the fire, cleared from the husk, ground into meal, bolted thirteen times, and the omer (a measure containing about forty-three eggshells) of the finest meal was kept till the following day.
Helon, having witnessed this ceremony, reluctantly left the temple, and in his dreams seemed to live over again the events of this interesting day. The stately form of the high-priest seemed to be before him, and the sacred name upon his brow to shine with a lustre too dazzling for him to behold. Then he appeared to be in the crowd, urged by some irresistible but inexplicable impulse, to force his way amidst the waves of people, seeking something which he could not find, and examining every face, but without finding that of which he was in search. Again, he seemed to be beside the high-priest, and a feeling of unutterable joy spread through all his frame. His uncle appeared to him pale and sad, and beckoned him from the temple to the valley of Jehoshaphat, where he sat by his father’s tomb and wept. A graceful and lovely form stood by his side, and pointed towards the west; he followed her, and as they went she too turned pale and sighed. A murky, sultry atmosphere gathered around him; the lightning struck a lofty cedar, the deadly vapour almost choked his breath, and he ran forward, a long and dreary way, without finding any resting place[resting place]. At length a star appeared, and twinkled on him with so mild a ray that his oppression was relieved and his cheerfulness returned. He looked around him, and found himself on the north-west side of the city, on a plain which he darkly remembered that Iddo had called Golgotha. In his astonishment he awoke.
CHAPTER VI.
THE REMAINING DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD.
It was the morning of the second day after the Passover. Helon was lying by Elisama on the divan. Glad to be delivered from his dream, he started up, performed his morning devotions in the Alijah, saluted Moriah and Zion from the roof, and endeavoured to shake off the disagreeable impressions of the night, which returned upon him with something of an ominous import. When he came down into the court, he found Iddo sitting under the palm-trees. He endeavoured to think only of his present happiness, and he felt, that as man is never more purely and vividly happy than in the morning of childhood, so the morning of each day is the time, when he has the most lively consciousness of every thing that is agreeable in his condition.
They all went together to the temple to pray. After the usual morning sacrifice of a lamb, followed, as the day before, an offering appropriate to the festival, of two young bullocks, a ram, and seven yearling lambs, as a burnt-offering; and a goat, as a sin-offering. The high-priest ministered as before at the altar, and the priests around him. The crowd was scarcely less than yesterday, and nearly the same ceremonies were repeated.
Next followed the offering of the first-fruits, the omer of barley-meal which had been prepared from the sheaves, cut the preceding evening. A priest fetched the meal, in a golden dish, from an apartment in one of the buildings, mixed it in the presence of all the people with a log (six eggshells) of the finest oil, and scattered upon it a handful of incense. He brought it to the high-priest, who stood beside the altar, and he waved it towards all the four winds, from east to west and from south to north, and then ascended the altar. On the southern side lay salt, with which he salted the meal and threw a handful of it, with another of incense, upon the flame. Immediately after, a special sacrifice, a lamb with the meat and drink offering that belonged to it, was offered; and the high-priest concluded by giving his benediction. The harvest was now solemnly begun, and Israel might pursue its joyful labours. The spectators dispersed themselves in different directions; and many of the pilgrims, who had neither time nor means to spend the whole week of the festival in Jerusalem, returned home on this day.
Only those remained behind, who purposed to offer the [burnt-offerings of the appearance before Jehovah], and these were the wealthier part of the worshippers. Elisama, Helon, and Sallu went down into the neighbourhood of the porch of Solomon, to purchase a victim for this purpose. A dealer in cattle, from Capernaum in Galilee, furnished them with a calf of extraordinary beauty, which they drove to the gate on the northern side, at which the sacrifices were admitted. Here they were compelled to wait a considerable time, as a large number had been admitted just before their arrival. At length they entered: the animal was examined and killed on the north side of the altar, the offerers having first washed their hands, and laid them upon it. The priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. The sacrificers then took off the skin, took out the fat and the entrails, and divided the flesh. The whole was given to the priest, along with the meat and drink offering; he salted it and threw it into the fire. A burnt-offering was to be wholly consumed, except the skin, which belonged to the priest. While the priest was sacrificing at the altar, Elisama, Helon, and Sallu were praying that Jehovah would graciously accept their offering; and when it was ended, they and the rest of those who had been admitted with them, went out at the southern gate. Helon, while he had witnessed the solemn ceremonial and the deep and reverent silence of the spectators, had felt the dignity of the priestly office, and as he prayed, had said with David,
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;