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How the priest must enter within the vail.

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; 2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. 3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.

5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the

LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:

12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail.

13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkleitwith his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy" seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:

16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place,

until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.

19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. LECTURE 212.

18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the

Our preparation for entering into heaven.

Aaron must not, under penalty of death, enter into the holy of holies, except on a day to be appointed. And the reason assigned is this: " for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat." Well may this remind us of what we read in the book of Psalms, 130. 4, "There is mercy with thee: therefore shalt thou be feared." Well may it make us thankful to be exhorted, as we are, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to "come boldly," through the mediation of our High Priest, "unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4. 16. We learn from the same Epistle, 9. 24, that the holy place within the vail is a type of heaven. And therefore when we read how carefully Aaron was to wash himself, and dress himself, before he went in, we ought to think of the necessity of our being cleansed from sin, and clothed in righteousness, before we can be admitted to the inheritance of the saints in light.

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On this occasion, besides the sin offering of a bullock for the high priest, and his family, or tribe, there was ordered, on the part of the congregation, a very remarkable "sin offering" of two goats; upon which Aaron was to cast lots, "one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape goat;" one goat to be slain as a sin offering, and the other to be "presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go scape goat into the wilderness." In this offering, the two goats, one dead and one alive, are generally considered to signify, that Christ should be put to death for our offences, and rise again for our justification. See Rom. 4. 25. How full of comfort unto us are both his death and resurrection! How full of awe must the high priest have been when he entered, with the smoke of incense, and the blood of sacrifice, within the vail alone! How little would he be able to see of the mercy seat, surrounded with that cloud of smoke, and himself directed to face "eastward" whilst sprinkling the blood! How faintly would he discern, what is so clearly revealed to us, the full, perfect, and sufficient atonement, made by Christ, for his people and their pastors, for the purifying of their altars, their temples, and themselves! Oh that we who have the privilege of clearer knowledge, may have the grace of better confidence! Oh that we who are admitted to the mercy seat of God, may be holy as He is holy, and pure as He is pure!

Of the scape goat, and of the great day of atonement.

29 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:

21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. 23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:

24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.

25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. 26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into

the camp.

27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth with

out the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.. 32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:

33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.

34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

LECTURE 213.

The Law calculated to work religion in the heart.

A particular day is here appointed, which would fall about the middle of our September, for the very remarkable sin offering ordered in this chapter, and for the high priest to enter within the vail. And it is declared to be "a statute for ever," a most solemn ordinance, to be observed as long as this covenant with Israel should continue, that on that day they should do no work, but afflict their souls for all their sins, in behalf of which atonement would then be made by the high priest. This shews us, that though the atonement made was only in the way of figure, the influence of the religion on the hearts of the Jews was intended to be real, and deep, and practical. And we should do ill to judge from the abuses of the Scribes and Pharisees, made familiar to us in the Gospels, concerning the actual effect of the Law on the consciences and lives of the Israelites, in the earlier and better periods of their history. Let us conceive a whole nation, and every stranger that sojourned amongst them, resting for a whole day from all manner of work; let us view them mourning in deep affliction, under the sense of their sinfulness in the sight of God, and watching with lively interest the ceremonial atonement made not only for priests and people, but also for the altar, .the tabernacle, and the holy place itself within the vail, which were defiled by the uncleanness of them that dwelt around. And we shall not easily imagine an ordinance more likely to impress the heart with a due sense of the holiness of God, and of the sinfulness of man.

And then how well adapted was this ordinance of the scape goat to prepare the minds of the people for understanding, that the burden of their sins must be borne by some one else in their behalf, some one who should both live for them, and die, and be again "alive for evermore." Rev. 1. 18. With "all the iniquities" the children of Israel confessed over him, with "all their transgressions in all their sins" put upon his head, the scape goat was sent away alive "unto a land not inhabited," so that it would not be known where he lived, or when he died; an intimation that the sins of repentant Israel should not be found when sought for; see Jer. 50. 20; a faint representation, but one of the best that could be made by mortal creatures, of that immortal life, which Christ has to give unto his people.

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When we afflict our souls for sin may we have grace to feel assured of forgiveness, through the merits of Him who saith, "whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' John 11. 26. And when we feel that through the atonement made by Him our sins have been forgiven, may we have grace, according to his solemn charge, to " go and sin no more!" John 8. 11.

Of offering all the cattle slain. 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,

3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,

4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.

6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring, This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

8 And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,

No blood must be eaten. 9 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.

14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.

15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean un

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