Leviticus 9
The next chapter of Leviticus, the 9th, opens with " the eighth day." This is a singular expression, because it is an additional day to a week already ended. And this eighth day would necessarily be the first day of a new week. Thus we have a type of resurrection. For resurrection could not be unless there had been a preceding creation, which had failed, having been ruined by sin. Resurrection is something entirely new, and yet it comes in upon that which is old.
The only feast which had an eighth day was the feast of Tabernacles. Lev. 23:36,39; Num. 29:35. (See page 55 of this work.) Circumcision was on the eighth day. Lev. 12:3. In this rite there was evidently a shadow of what resurrection effects. The true circumcision; " the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh " Col. 2:11-13. " We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil. 3:3. As the man-child was on the eighth day circumcised, so on that day the firstling of oxen and sheep were given to God. Ex. 22:30; Lev. 22:27. Another shadow of death and resurrection. It is also deeply interesting to observe that the leper, when healed of his disease of leprosy, and fulfilling the ritual appointed for his ceremonial cleansing, had an eighth day service, which in many respects approached very nearly to the ritual appointed for the consecration of the priests. Blood and oil were put upon the leper's right ear, and thumb, and great toe. Oil also was put upon his head. See also the sacrifices offered. Lev. 14:10-20, 23-31 A cleansed leper obtained that to which no of ordinary Israelite who had never suffered under the fearful disease of leprosy, was entitled. A saved sinner is raised by the grace of God to an infinitely higher position, and is a far higher being in the scale of existence, than was Adam before his fall.
A man or woman who might have suffered under an issue, and been healed, presented sacrifices to the Lord on the eighth day. Lev. 15:14,29. In both these types we have evidently allusions to the great fact. brought out in all distinctness at length in the teaching and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus; namely, that there can be no real cleanness before God, except through being born again. Put to death with Christ upon the tree, and quickened together with Him into life eternal.
There is one more remarkable instance of an eighth day, The Nazarite was to bring his offering on that day under certain circumstances. Num. 6 to. The Nazarite, the cleansed leper, and the priest, had each an eighth day, and had certain ceremonies remarkably in common, The saved sinner, a priest to God, separated off to God, combines all the three types; and stands ever able to serve God, because he is, risen with Christ." Col. 3:1-5.
The priests at the close of their seven days consecration were in an anomalous state. They were priests for themselves, but not for others. They had no power to offer on behalf of Israel. On the eighth day they were enabled to present sacrifices not only for themselves, but for the people. All our power to serve God; all our power to intercede for others; all our ability to walk here as strangers and pilgrims, is the result of resurrection. We are priests, because " partakers of a heavenly calling." Christ is " not ashamed to call us brethren," because we are " riser. together with him." We can worship God, because we are " not in the flesh." We can intercede for others, because we are ourselves saved. and have life in common with the risen Lord. We can present to God the precious blood of His son on our own behalf as worshippers already saved, and plead it on behalf of the unsaved, because we have in ourselves trusted in its value, and are accepted and justified, and risen as the evidence of its preciousness.
Let us trace from the Scriptures some of our responsibilities and power as priests to God.
First.-Our food for life and abiding fellowship with Christ is priestly; it is His flesh and blood. Heb, 13: 10; John 6:54-58.
Next.-We have access into the holiest by His blood, and can worship God in Spirit and in truth. Heb. 10:19-22; John 4:21-23; 1 Peter 2: 5, 9.
Again.- We are to assemble ourselves together, and to exhort one another, and so much the more because the day of the Lord's coming is approaching. Heb. 10:25.
Then we are " to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, our reasonable (priestly) service." Rom. 12:1.
We are to discern, and put " difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean." Lev. 10:10;11. 47. To separate the precious from the vile. Jer. 15:19; 2 Cor. 6: 14-18.
The real knowledge of sin and estimate of its fearful evil in the sight of God, is a priestly knowledge to be deepened and increased by daily communings with God respecting the sacrifice of His dear Son. The priest alone could decide in days of old as to the fearful plague of leprosy and all its manifested tokens.
The priests have also to instruct others in God's word, and God's thoughts, gathered from His word. Deut. 33:10; Lev. 10:11. See also Neh. 8:18, as an example.
Wisdom should be kept in their lips. Mal. 2:7. " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom." Col. 3:16. " Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Eph. 4:29. " Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Col. 4:6.
Praise to God is a priestly service. " By him (Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name; " or, as the margin has it, " confessing to his name." Heb. 13:15.
Let us remark the therefore of this verse. Praise must result from a heart fully confident of the entire and eternal salvation and sanctification, accomplished by the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The word therefore is inserted because of this fact having been stated before. Also the word continually. All through our life, all through our circumstances, continuous praise. Also in intercourse with other priests, " teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Col. 3:16. " Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." Eph. 5:19. To give is a priestly action. " But to do good, and to communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Heb. 13:16. The gifts of the Phillippians to Paul, assisting him thereby to continue in his work of preaching the Gospel, were priestly offerings to God; " an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God." Phil. 4:15-18.
Prayer and intercession mingled ever with thanksgiving are true priestly exercises of soul. See Rev 5:8.
These are some of the chief services of priests to God, who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. In this 9th chap. of Lev. we find Aaron and his sons exercising on this eighth day their priestly calling; killing the sacrifices, handling the blood, selecting the pieces for the altar; in short, going through the whole routine with the necessary accuracy, and according to the precise directions given by God, in the power of the eighth day.
One sacrifice is added to the list, which had not been offered in their consecration; " a bullock and a ram for peace-offerings." It is worthy of remark that the word " sacrifice" in the Hebrew is confined to this peace. offering, or as it should be called "peace-sacrifice. So in Psa. 40:6, (where all the four offerings of the first four chapters of Leviticus are enumerated, as set aside by being fulfilled in Christ Himself,) the word " sacrifice" stands for peace-sacrifice. The word "peace" is in the plural number, as if to betoken peace of every kind" perfect peace." Peace that shall answer every question of doubt or uncertainty; every opposing thought; whether of sin in the nature, sins committed, unworthiness, weakness, helplessness, infirmity. It was peculiarly a sacrifice of fellowship: the offerer eating the greater part of it in his own dwelling A kind of celebration of peace made between two parties, before opposed to one another.
As the word " peace" was the friendly salutation between persons greeting one another; so this sacrifice was like a salutation of peace between God and the offerer. A striking type of Christ as the one through whom God is able to salute us with the blessed word peace. " He is our peace." Eph. 2:14. " We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1. " And you that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death." Col. 1:21,22. " God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ?' 2 Cor. 5:18.
This was the concluding sacrifice. " And Aaron lifted up his hand towards the people and blessed them." Lev. 9:22. He wafted towards them and upon them, the rich mercies procured by the sacrifices. Sin atoned for by the sin-offering. Acceptance with God in the sweet savor of the burnt-offering. Life through the bread of life the meat offering. And full reconciliation peace and fellowship with God, through the peace-sacrifice. And he uttered the priestly blessing.
" The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; " The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; " The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
" And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them." Num. 6:24-27.
Or, as it might be rendered-
Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee;
Jehovah cause his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; Jehovah lift up his face upon thee, and place upon thee peace.
It is remarkable that the last sacrifice was that which was for peace: and the conclusion of the priestly blessing is, " Jehovah place upon thee peace,"
What a precious thing is peace with God, derived from God. Perfect reconciliation with Him. Unhindered intercourse with Him. No reserves-no reason for having any concealment with Him. A " spirit in which there is no guile "-no hypocrisy-no false pretenses; because every defect, every sin, every evil corruption within and without, has been fully met, atoned for, and set aside in the death of the Lord Jesus.
But the priestly blessing goes further than this. " Jehovah lift up his face upon thee, and place upon thee peace." Great as is the blessing, and beyond all price of having peace with God; yet there is a peace even beyond this-" the peace of God:- The peace which God Himself enjoys: the peace which Christ can call " my peace." Undisturbed by opposing powers of evil; unruffled by the violence and seeming triumphs of Satan, the peace of God like the calm crystal sea before the throne, remains firm and unshaken in the soul of the believer. It passeth all understanding; " for the very opposing elements that would seem to have the power to disturb it, only in fact confirm it. God sees the end from the beginning: He makes all things work out the counsels of His own will. The believer knows this; he sees also the end that must in due time come, when all things shall terminate to the glory of God; thus the peace of God rules or garrisons his heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Phil. 4:7. " If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven." Psa. 11:3,4. Perfect peace is there, and the dwelling place of the righteous is there. The promise, " thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee," (Isa. 26:3,) seems to allude to the plural of the peace-sacrifice, the word peace being doubled, (see margin,) " abundance of peace," " peace always by all means."
There are two portions of this priestly blessing which especially demand our attention.
"Jehovah cause his face to shine upon thee; " Jehovah lift up his face upon thee." So deeply important is it for the soul to realize the unclouded countenance of the Lord, that this portion of the blessing is twice repeated. One great object of the priesthood of the blessed Lord is that we may at all times enjoy free unhindered access to God: that we may never have to say He hides His face from us The fearfulness of that time when God was, we may say compelled, to withdraw the light of His countenance from His blessed Son, was to Christ the great ingredient of woe in the cup He had to drink for us. In some of the Psalms we find that terrible time of darkness anticipated by Him.
" Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily." Psa. 102:2.
" Hide not thy face from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my Salvation." Psa. 27.9.
" Lord, why casteth thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? " Psa. 88
" Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit." Psa. 143:7.
" Hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily." Psa. 69:17.
And who but the Lord Jesus could really estimate what it was to be forsaken of God? He who was the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father, and who had walked all His days on earth in the unclouded light of the blessed countenance of God: He who had known and dwelt in the fullness of joy which is in God's presence, (in God's countenance.) In the same Psalm, which begins with His deepest cry of agony, " my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," He still looked forward to the restoration of the light of God's countenance as His great joy-" for he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him, but when he cried unto him he heard." Psa. 22:24. And in the prospect of resurrection, He says, " as for me I will behold thy face in righteousness." Psa. 17:15. " Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance." Psa. 21:6.
Clouds of darkness and unbelief may come up in our souls, but the face of our God is unclouded. Satan may suggest that there is a hindrance to our approaching Him; but the precious blood and the High Priest over the House are complete answers to Satan's lie. We may be conscious of some allowed failure-or may be overtaken in some fault-the adversary will then tempt the soul, suggesting that our unfaithfulness has closed the door of entrance into the Holiest. But in truth, the place of confession is the mercy-seat. In the presence of God alone can we really pour out our hearts in self-abasement, and it is the assurance of His unabated love, and that the way into the holiest is still open, that will really melt the heart into contrition.
Aaron having blessed the people, went with Moses into the tabernacle. There may be in this a little shadow of the Lord's action as related in the end of the Gospel by Luke. "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." chap. 24:50, 51. Our great High Priest with uplifted hands, blessing His people with all the full results of His wondrous sacrifice, was parted from them, and still perpetuates the same streams of blessing, pouring them down upon them from heaven. For a little while He is concealed from our view. For a little time Moses and Aaron were together in the tabernacle, hidden from the eyes of the people. But they soon came out and together blessed the people, " and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people." Lev. 9:23. This was a second blessing direct from the holy places, and in this blessing Moses took the lead, combining with Aaron. " Moses was king in Jeshurun." Deut. 33:5. Thus a kingly as well as priestly blessing flowed from the two, a kind of Melchizedeck blessing. Gen. 14:18-24.
This " king of righteousness and king of peace," combining in his own person king and priest, brought forth bread and wine to Abraham, after the latter had gained the first victory recorded in Scripture over five confederate kings. The whole scene of this remarkable meeting between the priest of the Most High God, and the father of many nations, is surrounded with emblems of royalty. The king of Sodom was there-it took place in the king's dale-the spoils won from the vanquished kings lay in profusion all around-and the first king who had a royal title from the Most High was present. He was also the priest of the Most High God -and four times is the remarkable title " the Most High God " repeated. God is acknowledged by this priest to be " the Most High, possessor of heaven and earth," and the blessing he bestows is from " the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth." A striking anticipation this of the time when the Lord Jesus shall come from heaven in all " His own glory, and in the glory of the Father, and in the glory of the holy angels," to bless with resurrection glory, His own victorious saints, and to claim the kingdoms of the world on behalf of the Most High God, who will then be manifestly " possessor of heaven and earth."
"And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces." Lev. 9:24.
They did not shout at the sight of the glory, nor fall on their faces in worship, although that sight must have been an unlooked for manifestation of the presence of God-but God's acceptance of the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar, witnessed by the fire from before Him consuming them, raised a shout of gratitude and thanksgiving from their hearts, and bowed them down in reverence before Him.
It will not be " the appearing of the glory of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ, which will raise our shout of joy and our song of worship and of praise, but it will be the sight of Himself, " the Lamb a; it had been shin," which will be the great cause of our joy and thanksgiving. It is that beautiful word "Himself" which is so comforting, and which so gladdens the heart, " the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout," our hope is in Him, to see Him as He is: ( 1 John 3:2.) and then shall we realize the value of that sacrifice, of that gift of God which is unspeakable. Then will true unhindered worship begin. Then shall we be truly humbled when we reach the exceeding height of glory.