Bless, O Jehovah, his substance,
And accept the work of his hands.
Smite through the loins of them that rise against him,
That those who hate him rise not again.—Deut. xxxiii. 8.
“Thou hast said what is required of the tribe of Levi,” said the old man. “It was not without reason that to the whole tribe no portion was given in Israel: for, ‘Jehovah is their heritage.’ He had first of all chosen the eldest-born in every family to be his ministers, and still the priesthood so far rests upon them that they must be ransomed for five shekels on the thirtieth day.[[72]] In this way the office is transferred to the tribe of Levi. Others have so much to do with worldly things, that they could not instruct their children from their infancy in the knowledge of the law. But the sons of Levi with their children are to live only for the temple and the laws, and on this account the rest of the people give up three-tenths of their income, of which one-tenth supports the Levites, the second is for the expenses of sacrifices and feasts, and for coming up to Jerusalem at the festivals; the third is for the maintenance of the king.[[73]] Thus the priest and the Levite, free from the ordinary cares of life, are devoted exclusively to Jehovah. They are to present the offering of Jehovah, the bread of their God. Hence the purity which they are so carefully to preserve, not allowing themselves to come in contact with any thing which might defile them. [The sacerdotal order is the most exalted in the world]. Yet its dignity lies not in any preeminence of its own; but in God’s choice of it, to preserve and make known his law. Be not thou therefore unduly exalted, but rejoice that thou art permitted, as a priest of Jehovah, to minister in his temple. Before the full light of day is spread over heaven and earth, some one spot is brightened by a partial gleam. But has that spot done any thing to merit this distinction? Give thanks then to Jehovah that thou standest in the earliest beams of that dawn which is the harbinger of light to all mankind. When He comes for whom we wait, the brightness of his rising shall illuminate the whole earth, and the heathens shall walk in his light.”
The old man ceased, and departing, left Helon alone, who remained till near the ninth hour, when the evening-sacrifice began; and he hastened forth, that he might not be too late for his duties. The evening-sacrifice on the sabbath was in no respect different from that on ordinary days. The priests had prepared the incense, the Levites the meat-offering; Helon arranged his own, which consisted of the other half of the tenth-deal of the epha, of which he had offered one-half in the morning. The ceremonies and sacrifices already described were repeated; the lamb was killed and its portions burnt, the daily meat-offering, the meat-offering of the high-priest, and lastly, that of Helon, were presented; incense was burnt again in the holy-place, and the seven-branched lamp lighted for the night. The drink-offering was poured out upon the altar, accompanied by the songs of the Levites, and the trumpets of the priests, and followed by the benediction, which closed the service of the day. It was about the twelfth hour. But the flame continued long after it was dark to shoot up from the altar of burnt-offering, and even through the whole night the embers continued glimmering. The consecrated vessels were restored to their places: the whole course of Malchia had been in attendance this day, as it was the sabbath, but [only a sixth part] of them prepared themselves for service on the morrow. When all was finished in the temple, the priests prepared their meal and then laid themselves down to rest.
So closed the first day of Helon’s sacerdotal life; his heart was agitated, as it had been at his first entrance into the land of his fathers; but the sanctity of the place forbade every violent expression of his emotions. He had become more serious, it might almost be said more manly; and his joy and gratitude, instead of dissipating themselves in words, seemed to reserve their energy for action and the fulfilment of duty. A new life seemed to have begun in the temple of Jehovah.
As on the following day he attended the usual morning-sacrifice, although only as a spectator, he observed a woman who was undergoing the ceremony of purification after childbirth. She had bathed herself at home, first on the seventh and afterwards on the fortieth day, and she now brought to the temple a burnt-offering and a sin-offering—a lamb of the first year for the former, a turtle-dove for the latter.[[74]] The priest sprinkled her with the blood of the sin-offering, and she was purified, and praised the Lord, who had done great things for her, had preserved her own life, and had given a son into her arms. Helon beheld the ceremony with profound attention. The old man approached him, and after the rites of the morning-sacrifice were ended, turning to Helon, said to him, “Son of Adam, remember that for thee, too, a mother once offered a sin-offering and a burnt-offering.”
“I know it,” replied Helon, “but I have been in vain endeavouring to discover what is the import of this purification of the mother.” “Compare it,” said the old man, “with what thou thyself didst, to obtain purification at the festival of the new moon, after having touched a grave. Since man defiles, at his death, those who lament his departure with the tears of affection, and by his birth those who embrace him with joy, can he himself be pure by nature?”
Helon started. After a pause the old man continued: “Does not David say, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me! And did not God say to the first man, In the day that thou eatest of the tree, thou shalt die the death? Is any thing more necessary, in order to prove that the birth of man is in sin, and that his death is the wages of sin? Forty days, after the birth of a male, eighty, after that of a female, (the sex which first sinned,) is the mother unclean. For a burnt-offering she brings a lamb, for a sin-offering a turtle-dove, and reconciled by the blood of these innocent animals, she is permitted to appear before Jehovah. See what are the consequences of our birth!