A Class-Book of Old Testament History

by G. F. Maclear

(c) Incense, the last example of an unbloody offering, accompanied every proper meat-offering, but was also offered daily on the golden altar in the Holy Place, and on the great day of Atonement was burnt in the Holy of Holies by the High-priest before the Ark. The greatest pains were taken in its preparation. It was compounded by the “art of the apothecary” of four ingredients beaten small[86], stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense (Ex. xxx. 34–36), nor could any other kind be offered (Ex. xxx. 9). Desecration of this incense by using it for common purposes was to be punished with death (Ex. xxx. 38).

II. In reference to the second class of sacrifices, in which the life of a victim was taken and its blood poured upon the Altar, it is to be observed that these were limited to the herd, the flock, and all clean birds.All wild and unclean beasts were strictly excluded. The Israelite was to select only those animals which were most nearly connected with man, and of these, again, such as were most meek, innocent, pure, and valuable, such as oxen, sheep, goats, pigeons, and turtle-doves[87]. The selected victim was required to be perfect of its kind and without blemish, not less than eight days old, and usually a year. If it was blind, or broken, or maimed, or had any defect, as a wen or scab, it could not be offered (Lev. xxii. 20–27; Deut. xv. 21, 22; xvii. 1).

Such being the conditions respecting the victim, the offerer was required first to purify himself by ablutions, and then to bring the victim to the door of the Tabernacle, i.e. to the Great Brazen Altar of Burnt-offering in the court. There, whatever might be the precise kind of offering, he was to lay his hand on its head in token of surrender, dedication, and substitution, and then to slay it himself (Lev. i. 5). He had now performed his part, all the rest devolved upon the priest. He began by receiving the blood of the animal in a vessel, and then sprinkled it in different ways upon the Brazen Altar (Lev. iv. 6, 7, 25; v. 9), or, as we shall see, in some cases, on the Golden Altar of Incense, and, on one day in the year, on the Mercy-seat in the Holy of Holies. He then performed other ceremonies, which varied according to the nature of thesacrifice. But uniformly it was required (a) of the offerer, (i) to bring his victim to the altar, (ii) to lay his hand upon it, and (iii) to slay it; (b) of the priest, (i) to receive the blood in a vessel, and (ii) to sprinkle it upon the altar.

Of the bloody sacrifices the chief were (a) Burnt-offerings, (b) Peace-offerings, (c) Sin- and Trespass-offerings.

(a) In the case of the Burnt-offering, any kind of animal fit for sacrifice might be offered, but the victim was always required to be a male, and to be accompanied by a meat-offering. After presentation at the great altar, imposition of the hands of the sacrificer, and slaughtering, the priest sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about (Lev. i. 5, 11). The victim was then flayed, washed with water, and cut in pieces, and the parts thus divided were laid on the altar upon the wood, and entirely consumed by fire.

The burning by fire was the chief point in this class of offering, and “marked it as an expression of perpetual obligation to complete, sanctified, self-surrender to Jehovah[88].” Hence it was not presented, like the sin- and trespass-offerings, upon the commission of any particular sin, nor like the peace-offerings upon the acceptance of any special Divine mercies; it embodied the general idea of sacrifice, and in a sense represented the whole sacrificial institute. Every morning and evening, therefore, a lamb was sacrificed with its usual meat- and drink-offering as a burnt-offering on behalf of the whole covenant people, and the evening victim was to be so slowly consumed that it might last till the morning, an expressive symbol of that continual self-dedication to God which is the duty of man[89] (Ex. xxix. 38–44; Lev. vi. 9–13).

(b) Of Peace-offerings there were three kinds, representing various emotions of the offerer, the thank-offering, the freewill gift, and the vow (Lev. iii. 1–17; vii. 11–21, 28–36).

The nature of the offering was left to the sacrificer; it might be taken from the herd or from the flock, might be male or female, but not birds (Lev. iii. 1). Like the burnt-offering it was always accompanied by a meat-offering, which consisted of unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and leavened bread (Lev. vii. 12, 13).

The ritual of the Peace-offering was up to a certain point the same as that of the Burnt-offering. The sacrificer brought his victim to the Brazen Altar, laid his hands upon it and slew it, while the priest sprinkled the blood upon the altar; but after this there was a distinction. The victim was divided, and the priest laid upon the altar the fat of the kidneys, and the “lobe” or flap of the liver, and in the case of a sheep the fat tail, and burnt them with fire. He then separated the right shoulder and breast, and waved them before the Lord, and they became his portion which he was to eat in a clean place with his family and friends. The remaining portions of the victim were then restored to the sacrificer, who the same day feasted thereon, together with his whole family and his friends (Lev. vii. 15–21; xix. 6; xxii. 30).

This Sacrificial Feast was peculiar to the Peace-offerings, and indicated that the atonement was complete, that the sin was covered and cancelled which had separated the offerer from Jehovah, who now welcomed him to His table, and in this meal gave him a pledge of reconciliation. “To an Oriental mind two ideas were inseparably united in the notion of a meal; on the one hand, that of fellowship and friendship existing among the participators themselves, and also between them and the provider of the meal; and on the other hand, that of joy and gladness, so that even the highest and purest joy, viz. blessedness in the kingdom of heaven is described under the figure of a meal[90]” (Ps. xxiii. 5; xxxvi. 8; Matt. viii. 11; xxii. 2–13; Lk. xiv. 16). As the total consumption by fire on the altar was the culminating point in the burnt-offering, so this sacrificial feast was that of the peace-offering, which, therefore, whenever presented with other offerings, was invariably the last[91]. (Comp. Ex. xxiv. 5, 11; xxix. 1–32).