Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-08-02
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.
Lesson VI, August 8, 1888.
THEME: THE BURNT OFFERING Lee
1:1-9.

And the Lord called unto Moses, and spalxe
unto him out of the tabernacle of the con-
gregation, saying, 2. Speak unto the chill
dren of Israel, and say unto them, If any
man of you bring an Offering unto the Lord,
We shall bring your Offering OF the cattle,
even of the herd, and of the flock 3. If his
offering be burnt sacrifice of the herd, let
him offer a male without blemish: he shall
offer it of his own voluntary will at the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation before
the Lord. 4. And he shall put his hand up
on the head of the burnt Offering; and it
shall be accepted for him to make atone
ment for him. B. And he shall kill the bull
lock before the Lord: and the priests,
Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and
sprinkle the blood round about upon the al
| tar that is by the door Of the tabernacle of
the congregation. @. And he shall fay the
burnt offering, and cut 1t into his pieces.
z. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall
put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in
order upon the fire. 8. And the priests,
! Aaron's sons shall lay the parts, the head,
and the fat, in order upon the wood that IS
on the fire which is upon the altar: 9. But
his inwards and his legs shall he wash in
water; and the priests shall burn all upon
the altar, to be burnt sacrifice, an Offering
made by fire, Of sweet SAVIOUR unto the
Lord.
| GOLDEN TExT.-The Lord hath laid on
luS VI dll'-iSdihh 10 ~
The book of Exodus closed with the ac-
count Of setting up and dedicating the tab
ernacle and the inauguration Of the priest
hood. Leviticus opens with description
of the system of sacrifices. The book is
named for the Levites, who were given
charge of the ceremonials described. The
instruction, divinely given, without doubt
issued from the Presence which over
Swallowed the mercy seat. Equipped with
a constitutional government, TO which they
had sworn allegiance; common religion;
God their leader, they were ready to move
forward as a nation and establish them
selves permanently in the land of promise.
Among the various offerings, the sacri-
fee of atonement stood first. 1t was
whole burnt offering,n expressing atone
ment ana conservation
LESSON NOTES.
V. 1. And the Lord called unto Moses
Men in every age have been called of God
| TO the work for which they have fitness; a
work higher and better than human APP
pointments. Providence never calls to
disappoint or degrade. There are many
voices and many calls the devil speaks
also. He calls to a life of lf-seeking, a
life Of self-indulgence-the divine call is to
benefieence and a higher type Of living.
The voice is sometimes heard in the shap-
ing Of circumstances, the advice Of friends,
or in the intuftions of the heart. AS Moses
| was convinced LDdJ nc was NIOu-SeuJ, so
may Gods people now know that they are
| 1ivinely commissioned.
W If any man of you bring an offering.
| II is noticed that the command IS not that
every man shall bring an offering-this is
to be voluntary; but il the individual elects
| to bring an offering unto the Lord, the ac-
i ceptable manner of so doing is explicitly
stated. The animal was not to be a wild
beast, a useless beast or a manned beast,
but domesticated, "clean," fit for food, in
the perfection of young life-forming
part of the individual wealth. The first
idea of an offering is the giving Of that
which the owner prizes; that which costs
something.
va A burnt sacrifice. The word sacri-
| Ace originally meant an offering made to
| God, real destruction Of the thing offered,
| in contrast with oblations, such as tithes,
| first fruits, etc, which suffered no change
Of substance in their designation. The
sacriicial atonement not only embraced
the idea of death to living creature, but
consumption by fire. The origin Of sac
rifces was doubtless divine for all nations
from earliest antiquity have been accus-
toned so to do. The universal opinion of
the heather was, that in the shedding of
blood there was pardon for violation of
law According to Levitical law, the entire
animal was laid upon the altar and consum-
ed by fire; ascending, visibly and invisibly
! lin greater part, toward heaven. This
voluntary offering was the voice Of the
heart addressing heaven,-a symbol Of the
| freewill submission Of self TO the Lord.
The victim, perfect in every part was
| type of Christ, the perfection of excellence.
/ 1t taught also that the best we have is none
! too good to give to God.
| ". 4. And he shall put his hand upon the
/ head of the Offering. This act was pledge
of faith in God, implying consciousness OF
sin and need of atonement, coupled with
the confession that the punishment of sin,
7 4. e. n-f1 fRn nal n
the victim whose life was sacrificed instead.
Placing the hand upon the head was to in
dictate that the weight OF Sin rested upon
the sacrifcial head, and it was at that time
slain,-the punishment of sin, as ii were,
being diverted from the original TO the sub
stitute; a foreshadowing of the blood of
Christ, voluntarily offered, once for all, for
those who would, with outstretched hand,
accept it.
While the Israelites did not fully under
stand how this ceremonial cleansed from
sin and made them better, II helped TO i'm
press upon them more fully the hatefulness
Of sin, and that they were far from God, and
could only approach him through appointed
means.
/ There is between the deserts, even of the
penitent and believing soul and the pardon
and blessedness for which it hopes, an inn
measurable distance, an impossible chasm
which can be spanncd or filled only by the
mercy of God as revealed and manifested in
Christ.-Peabody. There was sacrifice for
sin in general, not the special and individual
sins of which each was guilty. 1t was
necessary that Israel be impressed that all
sin was the result of an evil nature, this
fact acknowledged, greater care would be
awakened TO nip in the bud individual
wrong. AS q national offering, the victim
was slain by the priests and Levites before
the holy place before the Lord where his
presence was specially manifested. The
sacrifice for the individual was slain by the
sinner himself.
The efficacy Of blood is everywhere en-
forced. AS il was the material vehicle of
the life of the victim, it was the symbol of
the life of the offerer 1t was also a sym
Dol of the spiritual life given as an Offering
to Jehovah. AS the blood was poured out
on the altar before the burnt Offering was
kindled, it typihed the fact that no Offering
of life or body is acceptable unless the soul
has first been given to Jehovah.-Lange.
Does blood typify deathl No, blood typi-
fes life; wo pour out life in one libation of
love. II is thine, thou giver of all existence.
would daily give back the life, and have
no life, save as IL is re-given me by the God
| to whom dedicate it.-Parker.
V. 6.--He shall fay the burnt Offering.
After the animal was skinned it was cut in
pieces signifying the laying open to the eye