Leviticus 1:9, 13,
17
A sweet savour unto the Lord.
How sweet the offering up of the Son was to the Father! “Christ also hath
loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweet-smelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2). The burnt-offering was an
imperfect type of his entire devotion to his Father’s will. When Jesus saw
the inability of man to keep the holy law, and volunteered to magnify it,
and make it honorable; when He laid aside his glory, and stepped down from
his throne, saying, “I delight to do thy will, O my God”; when He became
obedient even to the death of the cross — it was as sweet to God as the
fragrance of a garden of flowers to us.
Let us never forget the God-ward
aspect of the cross. The sacrificial fire fed on every part of the
sacrifice, on the inwards as well as the carcase; so did the Holy God
delight to witness the spotless and entire devotion of the Son to the great
work in which the entire Godhead was most deeply interested. The fragrant
graces of Christ were made manifest on the cross, and are perpetuated in his
intercession.
There is a sense also in which our
consecration to God is fragrant and precious. When we see his claims, and
yield to them; when we submit to his will, and commit our lives wholly to
his direction; when we offer and present ourselves to Him, a living
sacrifice, keeping nothing back — his heart is gladdened, and his fire of
complacency feeds on our act. Always count on this; you may feel no thrill,
and see no light, but reckon on God, believe that He accepts what you give,
and will crown your sacrifice with the fire of Pentecost. Who today will
surrender to God, and become an offering of a sweet savor?
Leviticus 2:1
Fine flour, and He shall pour oil upon it and put frankincense thereon.
This type is only true in its fullest
extent of the blessed Master; but as we are to be conformed to his image, we
may humbly take the ingredients of the meat offering as indicating various
qualities in our personal character and behavior.
Fine flour. — There should be nothing
coarse-grained or rough to the touch; but all even and tender. So that
however great the pressure brought to bear on us, we should meet it with
perfect grace and gentleness. Jesus reviled not again, but was led as a lamb
to the slaughter. David Livingstone said that the promise of Christ was the
word of a perfect gentleman. This should be our character.
Oil upon it. — We must be mingled with
oil — that is, the Holy Spirit must have access into the secret places of
the inner life, and we must have the anointing of the Holy Ghost for
service. In Christian work nothing is of any value or permanence, useful to
man or pleasing to God, in which the Holy Spirit is not first.
Frankincense. — Every act of our life
should emit sweet fragrance towards God. Always moving forward in Christ’s
triumphant procession, bearing aloft the incense-bowls of thought, action,
word, filled with love and praise.
Salt. — “Let your conversation be
always with grace, seasoned with salt.” The words of Jesus were full of
grace, and also of truth. There was a pungency and purity and uncorruptness
in his speech, which have in every age arrested the progress of the world’s
evil. Let us give Him our lips.
No leaven — the symbol of the rising
of pride and self.
No honey — that which is merely
attractive and sensuous.
Leviticus 3:1
A sacrifice of Peace-offering.
In the burnt-offering the priest burnt
all; but in the peace-offering a part only was burnt, “the fat, kidneys, and
caul.” The inner parts were consumed as God’s portion, whilst Aaron and his
sons fed on the breast and the shoulder. In that feast God and the priests
participated; and it is an emblem of our participation in the joy of God,
over the person and work of Jesus.
Think of this blessed feast with God.
We who were once far off in the wicked and hostile imaginings, are now made
nigh; we sit at God’s table as his children, and hear Him say, Let us make
merry and be glad; this my son was dead, and is alive again.
We have Peace with God. — We are
justified by faith in Jesus. In Him we stand before God, accepted and
beloved. The curse is exchanged for blessing; distance for presence; the
husks of the swine for the fatted calf. The past is for ever under the
blood; above us is the clear heaven of God’s love.
We have the Peace of God. — The very
peace that fills our Father’s heart, undisturbed by the storms of care and
strife which sweeps this lower world, is ours also. We sit in heavenly
places; his peace, like a sentry, keeps our hearts and minds against
molestation; the peace of God rules in us, bringing every thought into
subjection to itself. We have perfect peace because our mind is stayed on
Him.
We have the God of Peace. — According
to the Apostle’s fervent hope and prayer, He is with us. Not the gift, but
the Giver; not I, but He; not the river only, but the source. We may well
open our doors to admit such a guest, in having whom we receive the Author
and Giver of concord, unity, and unbroken rest.
Leviticus 4:2
If a soul shall sin though ignorance.
Sin is something more than that of
which our conscience convicts us. Our conscience may excuse or palliate our
sins, or may fail to detect them for want of proper enlightenment, or may be
misled by the practices and sentiments of those around. Therefore we may do
things which are grievously wrong in God’s sight without realizing their
evil or bemoaning it.
All such sin must be met and atoned for ere God can admit us into his holy
presence. Sin must be dealt with and put away, not only as it appears to us,
but as it is in itself and in the sight of the All-Holy. So, in the types of
Leviticus, provision was made for sins of ignorance; and the blood of Jesus
cleaneth from all sin, whether known to us or not.
There is more sin in us than any of us
know. If we think we have passed a day without conscious sin, we have only
to wait till an intenser light is flashed on our motives and intentions —
for firelight to be exchanged for electric light — and we shall see specks
and flaws. If we do not actually violate known commands, there may be a
grievous coming short of the infinite standard of the Divine perfection. Who
shall dare to say that he has loved God with all his heart, and soul, and
strength? Besides, there is always the liability to sinfulness; and this
needs to be perpetually met and atoned for.
It is very needful, then, for us to be
perpetually cleansed in the precious blood of Christ. We must ask to be
forgiven for the many sins which we know not, as well as for those we know.
The work of confession and forgiveness must therefore go on to life’s end,
applied to each heart and conscience by the Holy Spirit.
Leviticus 5:5-6
He shall confess that wherein be hath sinned, and bring his
Guilt-offering. (r.v.)
It is said that sometimes a soldier
will come from the battle bleeding from a hidden wound which he has received
without knowing it. So in the rush of life we may contract defilement by
touching uncleanness, or speaking rashly, which in the sight of God will
leave a foul stain upon the white robe of the soul.
The presence of unconscious sin with
us is the reason why we are often unable to pray or read the Word of God at
night. We are aware of a certain distance, a vail, a cloud, which has
settled down between us and the beatific vision. At such times we do well to
examine ourselves and the past more critically; for probably we shall be
able to detect the hidden cause, which, when we know it, must be confessed
and placed on the head of our guilt-offering, whilst we yield ourselves to
God as a whole burnt-offering, in a new act of self-surrender.
But confession is all important. We
must confess our sins, if the faithful Lord is to forgive them. Confession
is taking God’s side against ourselves. It is the act of judging evil in the
light of the Throne. It is like the unpacking of a box, in which one begins
with the lighter things at the top, and works steadily down to the heavy
articles underneath. It is the repetition in the heart of Joshua’s calling
the roll of Israel until Achan, the son of Carmi, was taken.
When the atonement has been made as
touching sin “in any of these things,” there is forgiveness. Dare to believe
that this is so, O penitent soul, who hast made Christ’s soul an offering
for thy sin. He says: “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy
transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins.” Go thy way, and sin no more.
Leviticus 6:13
Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually; it shall not go out.
(r.v.)
This is an emblem of the perpetual
work of God for man.
The Love of God. — There never was a
time when God did not love. The bush that Moses saw gave no fuel to maintain
the holy flame that trembled around it, because the love of God to Israel
and to the human race demands no sustenance. Through the ages it burns and
will burn; however much indifference and neglect and rejection are heaped
upon it, or poured over it, like barrels of water over Elijah’s sacrifice,
it never goes out. It is as fresh and vigorous today as ever, and waits to
consume your sin and mine; for God is a consuming fire.
The Intercession of Christ. — As the
ages pass, this sacrifice retains its merit. What He did as Priest on the
cross, He does as Priest on the throne. It is always “this same Jesus.” What
He was, He is, and will be; and as generations of saints bring their gifts
to the altar, He takes them, and lifts them up to God, as the fire bears up
the substances which are submitted to it. He ever liveth to make
intercession; and the fire that burnt through the long night in the
Tabernacle bore witness to the undimming, unwaning virtue of our Savior’s
work.
The Ministry of the Holy Ghost. — The
fire that was lit on the Day of Pentecost burns still in the Church. There
has been no intermission to its presence from the first day till now.
Multitudes of unknown sects and persecuted saints have kept that fire
burning in the world. On the perpetuity of its existence in our midst
depends the constancy of our own love and purity and prayer. If the fire
shall never go out in our hearts; if the life in our spirits is indeed
everlasting — it is because He lives and loves always.
Leviticus 7:19
Every one that is clean shall eat thereof. (r.v.)
In Leviticus 7:13, it is admitted that
leaven must be present in this holy feast, inasmuch as it stands for the
essential principle of evil, which intrudes into our holiest worship. The
self-life is an all-pervasive leaven. We may not be conscious of it; there
may be no sufficient recognition of its distastefulness to the holy God: but
it follows us even into the Holy place.
The worshipper was not allowed,
however, to be knowingly unclean. There must be no stain on the conscience,
which he might remove by confession and repentance. If there were, he must
be cut off; that is, he must be debarred from all participation in holy
rites, and suspended from entering the sacred enclosure of the Tabernacle.
This cutting off answers to the
suspension of a believers communion with God, because of unconfessed sin.
The presence of the leaven of the self-life is no barrier to the enjoyment
of the Divine fellowship, for we meet God in Jesus. But permitted sin makes
such fellowship impossible, because we have not availed ourselves of the
gracious arrangements made by God for the perpetual cleansing of the soul in
the precious blood of Jesus Christ. For “it is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul.”
How many excommunicate Christians
there are! You can easily see that they have been cut off; their joyless
faces and powerless prayers, their inability to bear testimony for God — all
tell the sad story. If you have been cut off, search your past history to
discover the cause. Put away your sin, and seek the blessed cleansing of
John 13; then come to feast with God, in holy communion, as at a common
table.
Leviticus 8:33
Ye shall not go out.
For seven days Aaron and his sons,
newly consecrated by the blood and oil, waited together in the Holy Place.
They were prohibited from going beyond the door, but fed on the consecrated
food till the eighth day summoned them to begin their priestly duties.
Similarly we are shut in with our Great Aaron, the High Priest of our
profession. We are in Christ in the purposes of God, for we were chosen in
Him before the foundation of the world. We are in Him, as Noah was in the
ark, and as the child is in the home; as the member is in the body, and the
branch in the vine; as the sponge in the ocean, or the jewel in the sunbeam.
We are in Him as a strong enclosure, through which the malice and strength
of our foes cannot break — a fortress, a strong tower, a castle keep. We are
in Him, as a banqueting-hall, a Tabernacle with its spew-bread, an upper
room with its descending fire.
It is highly necessary that we should
maintain our walk and experience on this blessed elevation. The great enemy
of our souls is perpetually tempting us to leave our abiding-place, and to
try issues with him in the plains beneath. What is temptation but his subtle
solicitation to come out from the secret place of the Most High. Beware! the
bait may be very attractive, but the end is death. Keep the charge of the
Lord, and abide day and night in the company of the Great High Priest. “He
shall dwell among them.”
On what viands do such happy souls
feast with Christ! A table is provided before them by the Lord Himself, and
they feast on all that pertains to Him in blessed partnership. “Son, thou
art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine.”
Leviticus 9:22
Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them.
The eighth day is evidently the type
of the bright millennial morning. During the present age we are hidden with
Christ in God; the world knoweth us not, as it knew Him not; our hopes, and
joys, and aims, are largely secret. But the day is not far distant when He
shall be manifested, and then we shall be manifested with Him in glory. That
group of priests, following the high priest out from the recesses of the
Holy Place, is a picture of the Second Advent, when Christ and his own shall
come forth to bless the world. When Jesus was parted in the Ascension from
his disciples, He was in the act of blessing them; and in that attitude He
will return. Who can doubt that all through the intervening ages those
blessed hands have still been outstretched, that heart ever going forth, in
blessing.
What a Savior is ours! In Him are
combined meekness that bears all insult and hatred, and mercy that
retaliates on wrong-doing in ministries of love. He fulfils his own idea of
blessing those that hate, and praying for those that despitefully use. How
truly can it be said of Him, as of Archbishop Ussher, that to do him a wrong
is to make him your friend for ever!
Let us imitate Him in this, and let
the going forth of our lives be one incessant stream of benediction to men,
until they shall fall on their faces and acknowledge the overwhelming power
of love. But in order to this we must be much in company with our blessed
Lord; gazing on his face we shall reflect his likeness; the lineaments of
the Divine beauty shall pass into our life, and light it up with a
loveliness which is not of earth. Thus shall we bring glory to our God.
Leviticus 10:3
Aaron held his peace.
His heart must have been rent with
paroxysms of grief, as he beheld the bodies of his beloved sons on the floor
of the Tabernacle, stretched out in death. He repressed the cry, choked back
the sob, staunched the flowing tear, and continued to perform the holy
duties with which he was charged. He was no stoic, and tears are not wrong
for our dead; but his relationship to God was so overmastering as to still
the expressions of nature.
He saw the wrong from God’s
standpoint. — It was of great importance that the Divine regulations and
enactments should be maintained, and that the ministering priests should
always prefer God’s work and service above their own ideas. Aaron was able
to appreciate that position, and saw the sin of which his children were
guilty. They had forgotten the voice which said, Sanctify thou Me. Obedience
is the foundation of reverence, honor, and service; and if it were relaxed
with the priests, how for the people! How careful they should be who bear
the vessels of the Lord! With what fear and trembling must they work, who
work with God!
He acquiesced in the Divine dealings.
— To take the yoke, and meekly bear it; to put the hand on the mouth, and
bow in the dust — this is rest and peace. In this way we drink Christ’s cup
and become partakers of his sufferings.
He felt that his work as priest must
take precedence. — -It was a solemn and awful thing to be God’s anointed
priest, and the office must come first, even to the denial of the dues of
nature, if that were necessary: so always with us, there must be the
subordination of everything to our service and work for God.
Leviticus 11:3
Whatsoever parteth the hoof and cheweth the cud. (r.v.)
The animals, in which these two
characteristics met, were reckoned clean, and therefore fit for food. It is
certain that the minute particularity of these words has some further
reference than to the diet of Israel, important though that was, or to
accentuate with every meal the necessity of their being a separate people.
We, at least, may gather this lesson, that in our daily experience we must
combine meditation and separation.
Meditation. — The cattle do not simply
browse on the pastures, but they lie down to chew the cud. It is not enough
to peruse our allotted Scripture portion; we must ruminate upon it,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual, and scripture with scripture. The
Holy Ghost will take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, and He
will bring all things to our remembrance.
Separation. — “Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God.” “The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.” We have not meditated to good purpose
unless we have felt its keen edge. Detachment from the world must follow on
true attachment to Christ. Love to Naomi will draw Ruth from Moab across the
Jordan.
The two must be combined. — The swine
divideth the hoof, but cheweth not the cud, and was therefore unclean. A man
may profess to love his Bible, but the supreme test is his daily separation
from evil. On the other hand, our daily life ought to emanate, not from
without, which is Pharisaism, but from within, where we chew the cud of holy
meditation.
Leviticus 12:8
Two young pigeons.
These were the offerings of the poor,
of those whose means did not suffice to buy a lamb. All these offerings
pointed to the one great Sacrifice which was to be offered on Calvary.
The blood of Christ is within the
reach of the poorest and feeblest. — None can say that it is beyond them,
that they cannot afford to procure it, that they are too poor. To the poor
the Gospel is preached. The Divine call is to those who have no money.
Salvation is to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth
the ungodly. “It is nigh thee.”
The faith that apprehends but a part
of the Savior’s work saves. — The pigeon may stand for the meager
apprehension of Christ that is the portion of the faltering and timid; but
it saves equally with that fuller conception of his saving work, which might
be compared to the bullock of the priest. The question is not as to the
quantity but the object of faith. Is it fixed on Jesus? All faith directed
to Him cannot but be genuine. It may but touch his garment’s hem, yet it
saves.
The beneficence of God’s law. — What
tender touches there are through this strong ancient code! There is such a
one here, framed partly in anticipation of the mother of our Lord, who
gladly availed herself of its provision. What a glimpse into our Masters
humiliation! He owned the cattle on a thousand hills, yet He so emptied
Himself that his parents were compelled to bring the poorest offering the
law allowed. He stooped that we might rise; emptied Himself that we might be
full; became poor that we might be made rich; was made human that we might
be made Divine.
Leviticus 13:13
Behold if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him
clean.
At first sight this seems a very
extraordinary provision. When the leprosy was beginning to show itself, and
whilst the marks were hardly distinguishable, the poor patient was treated
as unclean; but, when it was fully developed, from the crown of the head to
the sole of the foot, the priest pronounced the leper clean.
As long as we palliate and excuse our
sins, and dream that there is much in us which is noble and lovely, we are
not fit subjects for God’s saving grace. But when we take our place as
helpless and undone, without one plea or one redeeming trait, we are in the
position in which the free grace of God can have its blessed way with us.
We must come to an end of ourselves,
and fall prostrate, in the very helplessness of our despair, in the very
dust at our Saviors feet; we must confess that from the crown of our head to
the sole of our foot we are full of need and sin — then we are nearest
Christ, and in a fit condition to be richly blest, and made the channel of
blessing to others.
Would you rise? then you must humble
yourself before God. God’s thrones are approached, not by steps up to them,
but by steps down to them. It is the publican who beats his breast, saying,
“God be merciful to me the sinner,” that goes down justified to his house.
It is when sin abounds, that grace much more abounds. He that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit
of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).
Leviticus 14:7
Shall let go the living bird into the open field. (r.v.)
That is thou, O trembling soul. Thine
iniquities have come between thee and freedom, like the bars of a cage to a
bird caught from its native woods and imprisoned. See the
quickly-palpitating breast, beaten against the bars, pining for the open
field — is not that an apt symbol of thy deep yearning for deliverance from
the tyranny and thrall of besetting sin?
We are made free from the penalty of
sin through the blood of Him who died. — One of the birds was killed in an
earthen vessel over running water — here is symbolized the precious death of
thy Savior, in the earthen vessel of his human nature, and in connection
with the living power of the Holy Spirit, which bore forth the tidings into
all the world. We have been dipped into the crimson tide and are freed — as
the leper was — from the taint of our disease. He might go freely among men,
and join the congregation of worshippers: and we may mingle with the saints,
and enter the very presence-chamber of God.
We are made free from the power of sin
through the grace of Him who rose. — He has passed into the resurrection
life, and we in Him. When He rose through all the heavens to his native
home, we ascended too. We are made free from the thralldom of evil by
identification with the risen Lord; and the Holy Spirit, entering our hearts
from our exalted Head, makes us possessors of all the privileges which are
ours in the Divine purpose (Romans 8:3–4). Fly away, happy soul, to thy nest
in the heart of God! Seek those things which are above! It is your privilege
to live in the heavenlies with Christ. Sursum Corda!
Leviticus 15:7
He that toucheth … shall be unclean.
There were doubtless great sanitary
reasons for many of these enactments. This book is one of the greatest
sanitary codes in existence. God made religious duty enforce regulations
essential to the physical health and well-being of his people. But there
were deeper reasons yet. The whole of these arrangements were contrived to
teach profound lessons to us all of the nature and evil of sin, and of the
need of being continually cleansed in the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
The unclean soul spreads uncleanness.
— Whatever the ceremonially unclean touched, used, or sat on, was polluted.
Even those who came into contact with him were defiled. How wary all true
Israelites must have been of their associates, lest they should contract
pollution! Let us adopt similar precautions, and not voluntarily associate
with the unholy or unclean. And if our business calls us into their daily
company, let us seek cleansing for ourselves as we return to our homes, that
any adhering germs of evil may be removed.
The urgent demand for holiness. — The
ordinary processes of life are not necessarily clean because they are
natural. The foul heart may vitiate the most natural functions. We must
bring the thought of God into the simplest, the commonest, and the most
secret acts. Nothing is outside his jurisdiction. Though hid from sight, yet
He is ever near the child of God. His grace, and blood, and cleansing, are
always requisite, and ever ready. Amidst and after every act, incident, and
episode of life, we should be quiet before God, considering if we have aught
to confess, and asking to be ever kept from staining our white robes.
Leviticus 16:22
Unto a solitary land. (r.v.)
This chapter is full of Christ in his
most precious death for men. Its various aspects are set forth under these
diverse sacrifices, as light reflected from the many facets of a diamond. We
think now only of the live goat which was led away into the wilderness. We
see in it:—
Christ made sin. — With both hands
Aaron, in symbol, transferred all the iniquities, sins, and transgressions
of the people to the head of the goat, which became so identified with them
that it was accounted an unclean thing; and even he who led it away must
needs wash his clothes and bathe. This is what the apostle means when he
says that Jesus was made sin for us. Our sins met in Him; were assumed by
Him; He stood before God as though, in some mysterious sense, they were his
own.
Christ bearing sin away. — As the goat
went away, the eyes of the people followed it, and they were taught to
believe that sin was no longer reckoned to them. Aaron put off his linen
garments and arrayed himself in festal robes, and came forth to bless the
congregation. What rejoicing must have broken from the crowds! So Jesus, in
his matchless grace, has borne away the sin of the world into a land of
forgetfulness. “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
Christ’s loneliness. — He was alone in
his mediatorial work. None could bear Him company. Loved ones might stand
beside his cross, or in after ages suffer, as He did, deaths of martyrdom;
but none could do what He did as the sacrifice for sin. Ah, how lonely He
was! Even the Father seemed to have forsaken Him! Before the universe, in
that dread hour, the Savior stood in awful, unapproachable solitude!
Leviticus 17:11
The life of the flesh is in the blood.
There is probably a deeper truth in
these words than man has ever fathomed. The R. V. marg. translates “life,”
soul. Why that reverence for blood; that horror when it is unrighteously
shed and gurgles forth; that perpetual reference of Scripture to the blood
of Christ? Probably the answer to such questions would be given, if we
perfectly understood the affirmation of this remarkable verse.
When Jesus gave his blood, He gave his
life, the life of his holy soul. — We are accustomed often to speak about
the blood of Christ, by which we mean the life of Jesus, shed forth for us
substitutionally and sacrificially. The sinner takes this blood, this life,
in his hands, and presents it to God as his plea. Does the broken law
require satisfaction, homage, acknowledgment? Here it is in this priceless,
pure, and sinless blood, never infected by pollution, never heated by
passion. Let this shed life atone for thee! “God be propitious (because of
the sacrifice on the altar) to me the sinner.”
Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary; They pour effectual prayers, They strongly plead for me
“Forgive him, oh, forgive,” they cry, “Nor let that ransomed sinner die.”
When we are bidden drink his blood, it
is of his life that we partake. — At the table of our Lord we symbolically
drink of his blood; in doing this we identify ourselves with his death, and
give up our self-life to the cross. Yea, we do more; we testify our desire
to receive into our natures more and more of the soul and life of our
Blessed Lord, so that we may dwell in Him, and He in us.
Leviticus 18:30
Therefore shall ye keep My charge. (r.v.)
Literal obedience was God’s perpetual
demand of his chosen people. Why should we claim to be exonerated from an
equally exact obedience to the commands of Jesus? And yet how few of us do
exactly as He has bidden! Let us take some tests.
The Lord’s Supper is a case in point.
In the present day there are many who, from year’s end to year’s end, never
go to the Table, though Jesus said that his disciples were to do it in
remembrance of Him.
Baptism is another. Christians shelter
themselves under the excuse that it is not essential, and therefore may be
omitted. But what do they mean by essential? It is not essential to
salvation, because that has been achieved by our Lord; but it may be
essential to show that we love Him, that we have a genuine faith, that we
are ready to take Him as King. Surely a soldier is not freed from obeying
the command of his officer because he cannot see it to be essential!
Going to law is another. If there is
one thing clearer than others, it is the reiterated charge of the New
Testament that we should rather suffer wrong than avenge ourselves. Yet how
many professing Christians will this day issue a County Court summons
against defaulters!
Forgiveness is another. “If ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Yet there are hundreds of Christ’s professing followers who are at feud with
their relatives or fellow-members.
Let us remember the imperative tone of
these words, and ask God to work in us to will and to do of his good
pleasure.
Leviticus 19:2
I am the Lord your God.
This is the refrain of the entire
chapter; count how many times it recurs. Evidently the thought of God should
ring out in our lives, as a perpetual chime.
Sometimes as an inspiration to duty. We should seek to be holy because He is
holy. “Imitators of God.” Or as a remonstrance against yielding to
temptation. Lo, God is in this place; his pure eye is upon me: how can I do
this great wickedness! Or as an incentive to liberality. We can afford to be
generous to the poor and hireling, because we are children of so great and
rich a parent. Or as a reason for merry and gentle kindness. How can we act
otherwise than lovingly, when his love encompasses us with its persuasive
bands?
Thus the perpetual consciousness of
God becomes the source of holy and happy living. But how may it become ours?
We may make many resolutions, only to break them. We forget after our most
definite purposing. There is no help but in the Holy Spirit, whose office it
is to teach us all things, and bring all things to our remembrance. He is
able also to help our infirmity: “for we know not how to pray as we ought;
but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered.”
In the morning let the thought of
God’s presence with you in your secret closet sink well into your heart.
Wait till his presence is made real to you, and you cry, Lo, God is here.
Then entrust yourself to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to keep you in the
current of the love and thought of God. Reckon on Him to do so. Now and then
in the course of daily duty stop and remember God. Thus you will live in his
fear and love all the day long.
Leviticus
19:9-18
August 29
F B Meyer
Our Daily Walk
OUR DUTY
TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOUR
"Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself." -- Matthew 22:39; Leviticus
19:9-18.
OUR NEIGHBOUR is the next person who needs our help, man, woman,
or child. It is enough that your help is needed, and that you are
near! As we read this paragraph from the old Jewish law we see who
are our neighbours, and what we are to do for them.
We must give them a chance to live (Matt 22:9-10). We have no
right to waste anything that may be of service to others, or to
use for ourselves all our possessions. There must always be a
margin left which we can give to those who are in need. Well would
it be if each reader of these fines would set apart a certain
proportion of produce and increase, as well as money, for the
cause of Christ and His poor.
We must not withhold payments which are due (Matt 22:13). How many
tradesmen and others have been ruined by the long delays of
customers in settling their accounts. If only all Christian people
would insist on paying cash, especially to small shopkeepers, what
a blessed revolution would ensue. It is neither honest nor just to
withhold payment from those to whom it is due.
We must be very gentle and considerate to those who suffer from
any infirmity (Matt 22:14). God's Love is always endeavoring to
make up in some way to those who are handicapped. The blind Milton
sings of Paradise, and Helen Keller has been enabled to triumph
over insuperable obstacles. We are to become ears to the deaf and
eyes to the blind.
We must not hesitate to rebuke sin (Matt 22:17). This needs deep
humility, tact, the removal of the beam from one's own eye, the
love of Christ for souls; but how much might be done if we would
stay the little rift within the lute!
We must not bear a grudge (Matt 22:18). All, this is hard! To feel
hurt, to take offence, to be cold and stiff, to stand at a
distance, how many of us fail here! But we must act and speak to
others in the power of God's Love, as we would do if there were no
grudge within.
The lawyer asked Christ: "Who is my neighbour?" suggesting that
some one should neighbour him. Our Lord reversed his inquiry,
saying in effect: "Whom will you neighbour?" If you go through
life seeking people to neighbour you, life will be full of
disappointment; but blessed is he who seeks to neighbour others;
he shall not lack those who, in the hour of trial, will neighbour
him.
PRAYER
O Lord,
soften our hard and steely hearts, warm our icy and frozen hearts,
that we may wish well to one another, and may be the true
disciples of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Leviticus 20:26
I have separated you from the peoples, that ye should be Mine. (r.v.)
“Separate me Barnabas and Saul,” said
the Holy Ghost. And in after days Paul spoke of himself as being separated
unto the Gospel of God. It is a mistake to make the act of separation our
own resolve and deed. We shall inevitably drop back unless God has come into
the transaction, and has set us apart for Himself. We must be separated from
sin and sinners unto a holy God.
We are needed for a specific purpose.
— God can bless men only through men. As once He used the Jews to be the
medium of communicating his truth to men, so now He is eager to use his
Church; if only she will allow Him to deliver her from the taint of sin and
the world, and separate her for a peculiar possession unto Himself. Let us
individually yield ourselves to the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit,
that He may realize in us the purpose for which He has called us.
We are required to satisfy God’s
heart. — He needs love for love. Throughout the world He seeks for those who
can afford Him pleasure, as his enclosed gardens, his sealed fountains, his
peculiar treasure.
This separation is effected by the
Holy Ghost, and is referred to in the word “sealing.” “He hath sealed us
unto the day of redemption.”
What an honor is this! To be for God
Himself: to do his errands, to fulfil his behests and give Him pleasure!
Rejoice greatly when God says, “Thou art mine.” We also can take up his
words, and answer back, “Thou also art mine.” Let us be glad, if we know
that the oil of separation has come on our needs, and let us walk worthily
of our high calling, separated to the Holy Ghost, and counting it sacrilege
to be used for any unholy purpose.
Leviticus 21:8, 15,
23
I the Lord, which Sanctify you.
This chapter is full of restrictions
and cautions against anything that might defile the priests, the sons of
Aaron. The holiness of God was set in a clear light by the care that there
should be no ceremonial pollution or personal defect in those who ministered
before his presence. What Aaron and his sons were in the ancient typical
worship, that Jesus and his people are in the spiritual dispensation which
has taken its place. “Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for God’s own possession.”
How holy we should be “in all manner
of living”! What may be innocent and natural for others would be wrong and
inconsistent in us. Even the pointing of the beard after the fashion of the
nations around, and for appearance’ sake, was forbidden them; and contact
with death in the home of domestic mourning. These, with many such like
cautions, indicate that our spiritual separation for the service of God must
enter into the minutest details. The clothes we wear, the books we read, the
amusements we engage in, the details of the home-life — will all be affected
by the thought, “I have been set apart for God; the anointing of the Spirit
is on me; I am called to offer Him the bread of a holy life; I may not do as
others, who have not realized the sacredness of life, as I do; and who may
permit without compunction what I forego.”
This is a high ideal; and it is only
practicable to those who realize the thrice-made announcement of our text,
that God will sanctify us: setting us apart for Himself — by the precious
blood of Christ, by the anointing of the Spirit, and by the separation of
our thoughts, and aims, and practices.
Leviticus 22:4
He shall not eat of the holy things till he be clean.
The holy things referred to here are
the offerings made by Israel to Jehovah, a part of which was presented to
God in fire, and the rest partaken of by the priests and their families.
None, however, might feed on them whilst ceremonially unclean. This suggests
some useful precautions for ourselves, if we would fully enjoy the
privileges and blessings attending the worship of the holy God.
We must be clean before we can enjoy
the private reading of the Word of God. — We would wash our hands, soiled
with the dust and grime of toil, before opening an exquisitely printed copy
of the Scriptures; how much more should we seek cleansing at the hands of
Christ before we feed on the holy things of Scripture!
We must be clean before entering the
House of God. — It is a holy habit for each intending worshipper to be quiet
before leaving the house on the Lord’s day; or to use carefully the moment
of the bent head at the commencement of the public service, in order that
the soul may be made clean from any contracted stain, and resolve henceforth
to abstain from all evil.
We must be clean before partaking of
the Lord’s Supper. — There we feed upon the bread of God; and as we wash our
hands before we sit at the table of a friend, so should our hearts be
cleansed ere we partake of the emblems of the body and blood of Christ.
Holiness becomes God’s house. Those that ascend the hill of the Lord must
have clean hands and a pure heart. The reason why religious exercises do not
profit you, may lie in your failure to comply with this demand. “He shall
not eat of the holy things until he be clean.”
Leviticus 23:27,
29, 32
Ye shall afflict your souls.
Whilst Aaron was making the solemn
atonement for the people, confessing their sins on the victims and sending
them away, the camp was pervaded with the atmosphere of the Sabbath rest. No
servile work was done on penalty of death. Probably for the most part the
people abode in their tents. No sound was heard save sighs, and groans, and
cries of penitence. The people afflicted themselves for their sins.
Sin is forgiven by God, but it should
not be forgotten by us. — We should remember it, in order to refresh our
memory of God’s great grace in putting it away; in order to deepen our sense
of gratitude and to promote our self-humiliation; in order to make us
watchful and careful in our daily walk and conversation. Holding the hand of
our Savior, we need not dread to look down into the abyss from which He has
redeemed us. We shall turn from it to Him with tenderer love and gratitude.
Repentance is once for all; penitence
is perennial. — We repent when we turn from the kingdom of darkness to that
of God’s dear Son; it is the act of the will, the utter reversal of the
course we had been pursuing. But we are penitent after we have seen the face
of Jesus: it is the act of the emotions; the sense of Christ’s love and of
our unworthiness together makes us weep, as the forgiven sinner did at his
feet.
Penitence does not purchase
forgiveness, but accompanies and follows it. — Could our tears for ever
flow, they could not bring God’s pardon into our souls. That is secured by
the offering of our Substitute on Calvary. But being forgiven, we wash his
feet with our tears, we break our alabaster boxes on his head, and love
much.
Leviticus 24:4-8
Before the Lord continually.
The light of the candlestick and the
twelve cakes of fine flour were to be before the Lord continually, as
symbols of the twofold office his people were to sustain, on the one hand to
the world’s darkness, on the other to God Himself.
We must shine as lights in the world.
— As a candle in the hand of the housewife, who sweeps her house diligently;
as a lamp in the hand of the virgin expecting the bridegroom; or as the
lighthouse on a rocky coast. We must dispel the darkness, and guide
wanderers through the murky night. Light is soft and still, and is thus a
fitting emblem of the influence of a holy life, which burns steadily on
before the Lord continually, and is unaffected by the heed or comment of
man. If no one seems the better for our consistent testimony, aim to satisfy
the Lord. The lamps of the pure candlestick of a holy life are not for man
only, but for Him. But they can only be maintained through the constant
supply of the pure oil of the Holy Ghost, ministered by Him who walks amid
the seven golden candlesticks. “Ye are the light of the world.”
We must be as bread to God. — In a
blessed sense we feed on God, but God also feeds on us. He finds
satisfaction in beholding his people’s unity and love, in receiving their
sacrifices of praise, and in watching their growing conformity to his will.
The two rows of six cakes foreshadow the unity and order of the Church; the
fine flour, its holy, equable character; the pure frankincense, the
fragrance of Christian love. There is a testimony in all these to the world;
but we do not always realize the satisfaction afforded to the great God, who
has made such costly sacrifices on behalf of his Church.
Leviticus 25:25
His kinsman that is next unto him. (r.v.)
In the case of Naomi this was Boaz; in
our case it is Jesus Christ. Redemption, as described in this chapter, had
to do with persons and lands; and each illustrates Christ’s work on behalf
of believers throughout all ages.
He has redeemed our Persons. — It
often happened that a Hebrew waxed poor, and was compelled to sell himself
to some wealthy Gentile who sojourned in the land. He who had owned his own
patrimony now wrought as a bondservant for another. But after he had sold
himself he might be redeemed by his next kinsman. So we had sold ourselves
for nought; we wrought the will of the flesh; we were enslaved to the
fashions of the world; we obeyed the promptings of the prince of the power
of the air. Alas for us! But we have been redeemed, not with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of Christ. We have been made free by
right, and have only to claim and act upon the freedom with which the risen
Christ has made us free.
He has redeemed our Inheritance. —
What we lost in the first Adam we have more than regained in the second. For
innocence, we have purity; for external fellowship with God, his indwelling;
for the delights of an earthly paradise, the fulness of God’s blessedness
and joy.
He is our nearest Kinsman. — “My
brother, my sister,” He says of each who will do the will of his Father. He
has made Himself one with us by taking on Himself our nature, and
identifying Himself with our race. We know that Jesus, our Göel and
Redeemer, liveth; and that He will come to redeem us from the power of the
grave, and receive us to Himself.
Leviticus 26:6
None shall make you afraid.
But we are afraid, often very greatly
so. How can we be secured from the dread of men and things which so easily
besets us?
We must be absolutely right with God.
— To walk in God’s statutes, and keep his commandments, was the first
condition of Israel’s immunity from fear. When we know that there is no
cause of controversy between us and God, we feel able to count confidently
on his protection and deliverance. “Perfect love casteth out fear.”
We must count on God’s faithfulness. —
He has put us where we are, and we dare not think He will withdraw from us,
as Joab did from Uriah. We are his partners, summoned to co-operate with
Him: will He allow us to incur responsibilities in his name, and then leave
the burden on our unassisted resources? Fear will yield before a clear sense
of God’s might; but it is still more likely to yield before a deep sense of
God’s perfect faithfulness.
We must rely on the environment of
angel keepers. — When David, during his flight before Absalom, slept in the
open, he believed that the Angel of the Lord encamped around him. More are
they which are for us than those that be against us. The mountain is full of
horses and chariots of fire. Lord, open our eyes that we may see!
We must believe that our enemies are
less formidable than they seem. — They surround us with their bluster and
threatenings, they come against us in embattled array; but if we dare to go
forward and do the right thing in the sight of God, they will vanish like a
puff of smoke. “For, lo, the kings assembled themselves.... They were
arrayed, they were dismayed, they hasted away.”
Leviticus 27:28
No devoted thing ... shall be sold or redeemed.
There is a great principle involved in
these words. When once a person or possession had been solemnly dedicated to
God, it was not permissible to withdraw from the obligations which had been
assumed. Once given, the offering was regarded as God’s property, and might
not be resumed by the offerer, or placed to any inferior use.
This regulation is specially
applicable to our conception and practice of consecration. We are Christ’s:
by the gift of the Father, by the purchase of the blood of Christ, by the
sealing of the Spirit; but a moment often comes in the life of the earnest
believer when the Lord appears to claim a more earnest recognition of his
rightful claim. Then thoughtfully and earnestly, spirit, soul, and body, are
laid upon the altar, and we solemnly declare, “I am thine, O Lord!”
When once this is done, we must reckon
that God has accepted us, and that we cannot repeat the gift. We may
perpetually refer to it, and acknowledge its abiding obligation, and apply
its principle to all those new departments and functions which are
perpetually increasing on us; but we can no more repeat it, than could the
Israelite give God the firstling lamb, since it was already his (Leviticus
27:26).
If we go back from the attitude we
have once taken up, we must confess our relapse with tears and deep
contrition, asking to be restored, waiting to be put back again into the old
place by our merciful and compassionate High Priest. We cannot undo that
past; but we may ask Him to restore us to the place we occupied before we
went astray. Oh that we might never withdraw from the altar of entire
consecration!
