Leviticus 6:1-30
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship,a or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:
4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the dayb of his trespass offering.
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.
8 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.
10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
11 And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.
12 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.
13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.
14 And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.
15 And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.
16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
17 It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.
18 All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.
19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
20 This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.
21 In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
22 And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt.
23 For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.
24 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
25 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy.
26 The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.
27 Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.
28 But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.
29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
30 And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.
Leviticus 6:4. The lost thing which he found. This must be published and restored. If it be a garment, it should either be hung up on the road, or taken to some turnpike house. Else how can we expect to recover what we may lose. He who finds a thing, and conceals it, is regarded by ancient laws as a thief.
Leviticus 6:5. Shall add the fifth part. A thief was to restore double, because he was professedly a depredator. Exodus 22:4. But in embezzlement, a shade of human weakness is deemed a slight diminution of the guilt.
Leviticus 6:10. The priest shall take up the ashes, that is, when the fire has consumed the burnt-offering on the altar. So the French: Apres que le fen aura consumé l' holocauste.
Leviticus 6:23. Every meat-offering [Hebrews mincha] for the priest, shall be wholly burnt. The priests shared in the minchas of the people, but not in their own; the whole was consumed. Had the priest ate his own mincha, he had done nothing for his soul. This teaches that how lenient soever a minister may be to the people, he must not be lenient to himself.
Leviticus 6:25. Law of the sin-offering. Burnt-offerings were of two kinds; the one was burnt on the altar, and the other without the camp. Part of the former might, as in the prescribed cases, be eaten by the priests and their families, but not of the latter: the skin and all the interior must be burnt.
REFLECTIONS.
In the former chapter we have traced the atonements for sins of ignorance and negligence; we now come to known and wilful transgressions of the divine law. And blessed be God, that no sinner might be discouraged from repentance, atonement was provided for these sins also; but not without confession, restitution, and the superadding of a fifth part to the injured person.
Hence the promulgation of this law suggests a dreadful idea of the complicated nature of sin. The man who has defrauded his neighbour through covetousness, and other sins, will next tell lies to cover his crime, and by persisting, he is every moment keeping up a sort of living lie in the sight of God, and of his church. How dreadful is the state of his mind. Should death approach; should a stroke hurry him away in that state before the awful tribunal, we have every ground to fear that his soul is lost.
The covenant of God does not allow of private and concealed repentance; nor of bringing a sacrifice by proxy. He must come himself and acknowledge his sin, having first made restitution to his neighbour with interest. God will never receive a man's prayers while he retains his neighbour's goods. How happy would it be, if christians of all denominations would unite with the magistrates and peace-officers, to enforce the existing laws of morality and christian discipline; then taverns and alehouses would be brought under legal cognizance, drunkards and swearers would be punished, and the seducers of unprotected innocence would either be compelled to marry or flee their country. Professor Ostervald, in his treatise on the Causes of corruption, in conjunction with the ministers and magistrates, made a successful attempt in Switzerland; but perseverance is requisite in a good cause. What are good laws unenforced? The wicked, if left alone, will run to destruction.
The Jew who should presume to participate of the sacred feast with his sin unpurged, was to be cut off or excommunicated. He who despised the means of purity, despised the God of purity. And he who comes to worship God in his pride and covetousness, in his hatred and quarrels, shall have no access to him in prayer. And in the day when he shall knock without, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto me the Lord will answer, depart hence, I know you not.
The heart must not only be sincere in bringing its sacrifice, but the fire must be holy which consumes it, and ever kept burning on the altar; for it was the fire which went forth from the Lord, and burnt on the altar, accepting the first sacrifice in the covenant of Sinai. Into this fire pieces of the victims were continually thrown, which burnt upon the altar by night and by day, shadowing forth the sacrifice of Christ, the efficacy of which is for ever prevalent. The fire also of his holy love, shed abroad in the heart, should burn there in sanctifying comfort. Whenever that fire is low, and seems extinguished, we must stir it up, and add fresh fuel by meditation and prayer.
We here see that the priest so honoured as mediator between God and the sinner, must be a humble man. He must put off his fine linen; and in dirty clothes wheel the ashes out of the camp, or convey them away in some other manner. And seeing that Jesus has suffered for us without the camp, bearing our reproach, it becomes us to perform the humblest service in his church, out of regard for his holy name.