atonement by reason of the soul (life)." It is not the mere blood, as a material substance, that possesses the efficacy here ascribed to it, but the blood yet warm with the life of the victim. When the worshiper brought his offering and placed his hands upon its head he openly confessed thereby his guilt and obligation, and must have conceived that the animal offered was in some sense a vicarious sacrifice for himself; and when the lifeblood was "poured out before Jehovah" the symbolic rite was itself a public declaration that the life of the victim without blemish or spot was substituted in the mercy of God for the life of the transgressor. Whether the blood were poured out at the foot of the altar, or sprinkled on the horns of the altar, or at the golden altar of incense, or on the mercy seat within the veil, it was in every case regarded as a divinely appointed offering to make atonement for the souls of men.' 8. The Consuming of the Flesh. In connection with these ideas of atonement, symbolized in the shedding of sacrificial blood, the disposition of the flesh of the animal victims was not without suggestions of purification. The burning of the fat upon the altar, as an offering made by fire unto Jehovah (Lev. iv, 26, 31, 35), signified a free offering up to God of the better part of the worshiper, and the burning of the flesh of the sin offering without the camp in the clean place where the ashes of the altar were carried (Lev. iv, 12, 21) suggested a complete removal of the sins of the flesh. For a thorough taking away of sin requires more than the atoning efficacy of the blood of expiation: there must be also a blotting out of all iniquity; and this was symbolized by devoting the flesh of the sin offerings, as if defiled by its contact with sin, to the consuming fire. 9. Significance of and its Derivatives. The word and its derivatives, which are usually translated by atone and atonement, deserve a passing notice in connection with the Levitical laws of expiation. The primary meaning seems to be indicated by a usage which involves the idea of covering over, or hiding. Thus in Gen. xxxii, 20, Jacob thinks he can cover the face of Esau with such a princely gift that his injured brother will not look upon the wrongs of the past. Hence easily arose the meaning of covering over in the sense of appeasing, pacifying, propitiating, This was obviously the opinion, as we shall see farther on, of the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, who elaborates the idea in his ninth chapter, and concludes that "according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no remission" (ix, 22). The word n is used in the same way in Gen. xx, 16, where Abimelech gives a thousand pieces of silver for a covering of the eyes of all who were with Sarah that they might not see the offense to which she had been exposed. and in the sacrificial codes of the later priestly legislation the atonement offered was conceived as covering, concealing, and blotting out the sins of the guilty. The individuals thus covered or atoned for were regarded as delivered from exposure to the penal consequences of transgression. And this entire sacrificial arrangement appears in the biblical record not as an invention of men, nor as a service which recognized any merit in the person who brought the offering, but as a conspicuous condemnation of sin. It is Jehovah who has graciously provided this substitute of animal life for the life of the sinner, and has appointed the offering of blood upon the altar to make atonement for the guilty soul. It should also be noted that the Hebrew word commonly translated mercy seat is, the cover, or lid, of the ark of the covenant. The ark contained the two tables of the decalogue, God's testimony against sin, and this capporeth, or cover, was to be sprinkled with blood on the day of atonement (Lev. xvi, 11-17), and was thus made a significant symbol of "mercy covering wrath."1 10. Frequent Biblical Allusion to Sacrifices. Further details of priestly mediation and of sacrifices for sin, according to the Levitical ritual, need not detain us. But we shall find in other scriptures, and in the New Testament teaching, frequent allusion to the offerings of blood as an atonement for sin. How far these outward symbols of expiation entered into the eternal purpose of God, and were typical of holy mysteries which became manifest in the mediation of Jesus Christ, is a question not to be lost sight of as we pursue our inquiries. The Old Testament ritual of mediation and of service contains sundry object-lessons which were of the nature of a preparatory discipline, looking to the mediatorial ministry of the Son of God. And the same may be said of other religious systems which have served to cultivate the sense of spiritual need and to turn the yearnings of the human heart toward God. For all these methods of feeling after the Infinite Helper may be conceived as so many expedients through which the heart of unspeakable Love has been working to draw all men unto himself. They also evince the necessity which the guilty but penitent soul feels for some saving efficiency higher than himself in order to deliverance from the power of sin. Efficient rescue from depths of self-despair must needs come through some manner of suffering and sacrifice. 11. Human Sacrifices. The awful practice of offering human sacrifices is probably best explained as a giving up to God the best, the dearest, the most sacred treasure possible. Abraham's willing 1 For fuller showing of this symbolism, see Biblical Hermeneutics, p. 272, and Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 83. ness thus to offer up his only son for a burnt offering obtained for him Jehovah's great blessing (Gen. xxii, 16, 17). Jephthah offered his daughter and only child as the noblest possible sacrifice (Judg. xi, 31, 39). The king of Moab in the extremity of battle as a last resort offered his eldest son as a burnt offering (2 Kings iii, 27). But the prophets of Jehovah condemned this practice (Mic. vi, 7; 2 Kings xvi, 3; xxi, 6; xxiii, 10); it was denounced as an "abomination to Jehovah" in Deut. xii, 31, and explicitly forbidden in the Levitical code (Lev. xviii, 21). The practice, however, shows to what extremes religious zeal will go in efforts to obtain and hold favorable relations with God. The devotion thus evinced may be most admirable, but its method of display is barbarous and abominable. 12. Priesthood and Sacrifice Express Deep Religious Convictions. One unavoidable conclusion, which forces itself upon us when we study those customs of priesthood and sacrifice which go back to primitive times, is that they are all the expressions of religious conviction, and evince the need, felt everywhere and at all times, of some kind of mediation between man and God. In earliest times the head of the family acted as priest and offered the sacrifice, as appears in the examples of Noah and Jacob and Job. Whether the Deity recognized were conceived as a household God, or the God of the tribe to which the worshiper belonged, or the one God over all, the worship in its essential elements would be the same. Hence we are to recognize the real depth and significance of the lowest forms of sacrificial worship, and to note that they all indicate desire and effort on the part of the worshipers to be on good terms with God. The offering seems in all cases to have been prompted by the query, "Wherewithal shall I come acceptably before my God?" The answer, of course, may take on various phases at different times and places. It may be in the form of fruits, libations of wine, whole burnt offerings, the blood of choice victims from flock and herd, and even a human sacrifice. The principle is the same in all. Along with such a variety of offerings would be associated divers conceptions of propitiation, atonement, expiation, and reconciliation, as also divers notions of priesthood. But in all ministrations of this kind the priest acts the part of a mediator between God and man. As it is well stated in Heb. v, 1, he is "taken from among men and appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, and bear gently with the ignorant and erring." And so, probably, the best explanation of priesthood and sacrifice, the wide world over, is that God himself thus put it into the heart of man to do his best to be on favorable terms with the Author of his being. Thus has the Father sought to draw men; but their forms of approaching him were often matters of their own devising. 13. Insufficiency of Animal Sacrifices. According to Heb. x, 1-4, all the Levitical offerings were insufficient to perfect the worshiper. The blood of animal sacrifices cannot take away sins. But those symbolical and typical ministrations of mediation were a "shadow of the good things to come." They serve to illustrate and in their measure reveal the greater and more perfect sacrifice of Christ, and the nature of his divine-human mediation. The earlier forms of worship, regarded as divine institutions, were graciously provided to assist man in his earnest feeling after God. The heavenly Father overlooked the misconceptions, the ignorance, and the errors; but in the fullness of time he brought in the clearer light to make known the mystery and the purpose of the ages. It is, accordingly, a great error to condemn, as some do, all the sacrificial offerings of the old time as inhuman, heathenish, and barbarous, arising out of superstitious fear of a vengeful Deity. No doubt demoralizing superstitions have too largely prevailed, but the degrading conceptions of placating an offended Deity spring from false views of God. The deities of the heathen world were often thought of as arbitrary, lustful, passionate beings, who deceived men by delusive dreams and subjected them to cruel plagues in order to gratify old feelings of revenge. Service offered to such a deity would naturally contemplate the removal of his wrath and spite. But we cannot regard such notions of God as having ethical content or value. The profound views of sin and guilt symbolized in the Levitical cult impart a nobler aspect to all offerings of blood. With the Hebrews atonement meant a divinely provided means of making God and man at one. The guilt-laden soul sought peace with the Holy One by means of the most sacred token of self-surrender he could bring. The real object was not to placate a revengeful Power, but to offer a reasonable, holy, and acceptable sacrifice before the Giver of all life, who had himself graciously instituted this means of reconciliation. 14. Ideas of Mediation in the Prophets. The prophets of the Old Testament present an ideal of mediatorial intercession and vicarious suffering which is far in advance of the Levitical ritual of sacrifice. They expose the emptiness of outward forms, and proclaim Jehovah as the God who yearns with infinite compassion after his erring people, and who would rather see in them a loving obedience than excessive observance of ritual. Isaiah proclaims Jehovah as having no delight in the oblations and burnt offerings of a people whose worship is only an outward heartless formality, while they fail to put away their evil doings (Isa. i, 10-17). Similarly Micah declares (vi, 6-8) that righteous action, loving affection, and walking humbly with God are a better means of approaching Jehovah than "thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil." Vainly will one offer up his firstborn child for the sin of his soul. God looks rather for a deep struggle of the soul after purity and righteousness that results in spiritual transformation. The book of Hosea is remarkable for its doctrine of condemning judgment mixed with divine compassion. Israel is depicted as a faithless wife who has notoriously played the harlot in departing from Jehovah. Her guilt is set forth in the darkest colors, and the certainty of penal retribution is forcibly declared. Having sown the wind, she shall reap the whirlwind. Having plowed wickedness, she must needs reap iniquity. And yet through all this prophecy there breathes a spirit of divine affection for the sinful nation. Jehovah would fain receive back his faithless wife, notwithstanding all her running after other lovers. He cries out as if in bitter anguish: "O Ephraim, how shall I give thee up? O Israel, how shall I deliver thee over to judgment? My heart is turned upon me; my compassions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee" (xi, 8, 9). In a similar way Isaiah arraigns the "sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, who have forsaken Jehovah and despised the Holy One of Israel" (i, 4), and he announces that because of their evil doings the judgments of fire and desolation have visited the land. But at the same time he pleads with them to put away the evil of their doings, and "though their sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (i, 18). Jeremiah recalls the piety of Israel's youth, the love of her espousal in the wilderness (ii, 2), but he cries out in astonishment over her backslidings, and her "playing the harlot with many lovers" (iii, 1). If one run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, he will seek in vain to find a man that doeth justly, that seeketh after truth (v, 1). And he speaks out the feeling of Jehovah himself when he cries: "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! . . . For they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah" (ix, 1, 3). The righteous judgment of God was signally executed on the sinful nation by Assyria, the rod of his anger (Isa. x, 5), and by the chastisements and woes of the Babylonian exile; but in all their woes the lovingkindness of |