The Great Commission Part 11

Here a new scene opens to us, and we are called to witness the dawning of a new day upon Levi; a day, moreover, which may justly lead us to antic.i.p.ate great things. It is true we get him here likewise with his sword by his side, but, oh, for what a different purpose, and in what a different cause! It is not now in anger and self-will slaying a man, but in holy jealousy and care for the honor of the Lord G.o.d of Israel, and in simple obedience to His command; and although this may, and will, lead to the very cutting off of a brother, a son, or a friend, Levi cares not; for the word is, "Consecrate yourselves to the Lord, that He may bestow upon you a blessing." This was enough for Levi; and although by nature he was vile and utterly unfit either for the fellows.h.i.+p or service of G.o.d, yet is he now the foremost in jealous vindication of His holy name and wors.h.i.+p against those who would seek to "turn their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth gra.s.s."

Nor is Levi now seen "_joined_" with his brother Simeon--no, he might join in league with him in the days of his wickedness for the perpetration of deeds of blood; but here, as I before observed, we get the opening of a new scene, and therefore he is seen "joined" with the Lord and His servant Moses for the execution of righteous judgment upon idolatry.

And henceforth, in following the footsteps of Levi, we shall find that, instead of being "swift to shed blood," they are to be "swift"

in following the movements of the cloud, and "swift" in performing the service of the tabernacle.

It would, of course, be quite foreign to our subject to dwell upon the sad and humbling scene that called out the above act of service on the part of Levi. Suffice it to say that it was, as we know, on the part of Aaron and the camp, a ceasing to exercise faith in the fact that Moses was _alive_ in the presence of G.o.d for them. The consequence of which was an entire forgetfulness of the mighty Hand and stretched out Arm that had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and of their present position _in the wilderness_; hence, as might be expected, "the people _sat down to eat and drink_ and rose up to play." May the Lord preserve us from like forgetfulness; and, seeing "those things were written for our admonition," may we be truly admonished thereby not to "l.u.s.t after evil things."

We shall now pa.s.s on to the next scripture, where we get the Lord's own thoughts upon the above act of service, namely,

DEUTERONOMY x.x.xiii. 8-11.

"And of Levi he (Moses) said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Ma.s.sah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed Thy word and kept Thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law; they shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon Thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again."

In this pa.s.sage we have real Levite service brought before us in the words, "who said unto his father and mother, I have not seen him,"

etc. The _true_ and _decided_ servant of G.o.d will ever have to experience something of this; indeed, the measure thereof will just be in proportion to the faithfulness and power of his walk: "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of G.o.d;" therefore every heir of that kingdom must show himself in readiness to deny all the claims which "flesh and blood" would make on him, whether in himself or in others.

Most happily does the address to "the queen," in Ps. xlv., connect itself with this point: "_Harken_, O daughter, and _consider_, and _incline thine ear; forget also thine own people_ and thy father's house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord, and wors.h.i.+p thou Him" (vers. 10, 11). We have all to watch against a tendency to be influenced by the claims of flesh and blood, in our testimony for Christ. He Himself has said on this subject that "no man having put his hand to the plow and _looking back_, is fit for the kingdom of G.o.d" (Luke ix. 62). And, as some one has observed, it was upon this point that the prophet Elisha's character seemed a little defective, for when Elijah cast his mantle over him, or, in other words, when he had put upon him the high honor of making him a prophet of the Lord G.o.d, Elisha's heart seemed to yearn after home, and he said, "Let me, I pray thee, _kiss my father and my mother_, and _then_ I will _follow thee_" (1 Kings xix. 20). Now this was most natural, and, as some would say, amiable and affectionate; but, oh, amiability and natural affection have often hindered people from entering as they should into the Lord's service; and although it is one of the marks of the latter-day apostasy to be "without natural affection," yet does Moses, in the above-cited pa.s.sage, ask the Lord to bless Levi, because "he said unto his father and his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children." How grossly inconsistent would it have been for Levi to have said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother," when called to enter upon the Lord's work; and not less so is it for us to allow the claims of "flesh and blood" to interfere with our true hearted Levite service to our G.o.d, who has done so much for _us_.

But let us carefully observe the blessed consequences of this decision of character on the part of Levi. These are, first, "They shall _teach Jacob_ Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law." Secondly, "They shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon _Thine altar_."

Thirdly, "Bless his substance." Fourthly, "Accept the work of his hands." Fifthly, "Smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again." All these fruits are distinct, and yet intimately connected, as springing from the same source, namely, simple, devoted and uncompromising obedience to the Lord. As to the first of these fruits, how true it is that it is only the man who himself endeavors to walk in power before G.o.d that can speak with effect to the hearts and consciences of others; nothing else will do--nothing else will tell, either upon the hearts or in the lives of Christians. There may be, and, alas, is much of mere systematic teaching and preaching of things which the mere intellect may have received, and which, by a natural fluency of language, we may be able to give out; but all such teaching is vain, and had much better be avoided in the sight of G.o.d. True, it might often give to our public a.s.semblies an appearance of barrenness and poverty which our poor, proud hearts could ill brook; but would it not be far better to keep silence than to subst.i.tute mere carnal effort for the blessed energy of the Holy Spirit?

True ministry, however, the ministry of the Spirit, will always commend itself to the heart and conscience. We can always know the source from which a man is drawing who speaks in "the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth," and with the ability which G.o.d giveth; and while we should ever pray to be delivered from the mere effort of man's intellect to handle the truth of G.o.d amongst us, we should diligently cultivate that power to teach which stands connected, as in Levi's case, with the denial of the claims of flesh and blood, and with entire devotedness to the Lord's service.

In the second consequence above referred to we have a very elevated point: "They shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon Thine altar." This is wors.h.i.+p. We put incense before G.o.d when we are enabled, in the power of communion, to present in His presence the sweet odor of Christ in His person and work. This is our proper occupation as members of the chosen and separated tribe.

But it is particularly instructive to look at both the above mentioned consequences in connection; i.e., the Levites in ministry to their brethren, and the Levites in wors.h.i.+p before G.o.d: it was as acceptable in the sight of G.o.d, and as divine an exercise of his functions, for a Levite to instruct his brethren as it was for him to burn incense before G.o.d. This is very important. We should never separate these two things. If we do not see that it is the same Spirit who must qualify us to speak _for_ G.o.d as to speak _to_ Him, there is a manifest want of moral order in our souls. If we could keep this principle clearly before our minds, it would be a most effectual means of maintaining amongst us the true dignity and solemnity of ministry in the Word: having lost sight of it has been productive of very sad consequences.

If we imagine for a moment that we can teach Jacob by any other power or ability than that by which we put incense before G.o.d, or if we imagine that one is not as acceptable before G.o.d as the other, we are not soundly instructed upon one of the most important points of truth; for, as some one has observed, "Let us look at this point ill.u.s.trated in the personal ministry of Christ, and we shall no longer say that teaching by the Holy Ghost is inferior to praise by the same, for surely the apostles.h.i.+p of Christ when He came _from G.o.d_ was as sweet in its savor to G.o.d as His priesthood when _He went to G.o.d_ to minister to Him in that office. The candlestick in the holy place which diffused the light of life--G.o.d's blessed name--was as valuable, at least in His view, as the altar in the same place, which presented the perfume of praise."

We now come to speak of the third point, namely, "Bless, Lord, his substance." This is just what we might have expected; an _increase_ of blessing will ever be the result of real true-hearted devotedness to Christ. "Every branch in Me that beareth fruit He purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit;" "The diligent soul shall be made fat;" and "To him that hath shall _more_ be given." Levi had exhibited much diligence of soul in the Lord's service--he had shown himself in readiness to vindicate His name in strong and decided opposition to every mere human thought and affection; and now the Lord will show Levi that He is not unrighteous to forget his work and labor of love, "for He will bless his substance." We find the apostle Paul bringing forward the same principle to his son Timothy when he tells him to "meditate on these things; _give thyself wholly_ to them, that _thy profiting may appear to all_." Here he connects the "profiting" with the "giving himself wholly:" this will ever be the case; and if we would experience more than we do the meaning and power of the words, "Bless, Lord, his substance," we must first endeavor to enter into the meaning of what goes before, namely, "who said to his father and to his mother, I have not known him," etc. "Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life" (Matt. xix. 29).

Not less striking is the connection between what has just been stated and our fourth point, namely, "Accept the work of his hands." This I conceive to be a point of the greatest importance to us, and one which involves a question upon which we frequently display much want of intelligence. We often find it difficult to reconcile the idea of salvation through free grace with that of an increase of blessing and power for walking in obedience; and yet we find the two things constantly maintained in Scripture; thus we read, "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and _will manifest Myself_ to him." And, again, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, _and We will come unto him and make Our abode with him_" (John xiv. 21, 23).

This is very clear and decided upon the subject: we see here that the manifestation of the Son is made to depend on our keeping the commandments of Christ. Grace takes up a sinner and leads him into the knowledge of the full forgiveness of his sins through faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ: but all this is simply a means to an end: it is, in a word, to set him down in a position of responsibility to Christ, which position he by nature could never have sustained, because "the carnal mind is enmity against G.o.d; it is not subject to the law of G.o.d, neither indeed can be." If, then, a man be put into a place of responsibility, it is clear that the more faithfully and diligently he maintains that place, the more enlarged will be his communion.

A father may have two children, the one obedient, the other the very reverse; now, they are both his children; neither the obedience of the one nor the disobedience of the other can interfere in the least with the relations.h.i.+p existing between them; but can we have a question as to which of them would enjoy most of the father's presence and affection? Surely not; a father likes to be obeyed, and will love the obedient child. There may be extraordinary cases where, from a warped judgment or a blind and unmeaning partiality, the disobedient, lawless son may have more of the heart of the parent than the other; but this is not so with G.o.d: His judgment is clear and unerring: He can accurately distinguish between the one that honors Him and the one that despises Him: the former "He will honor," the latter He will "lightly esteem." The Lord does not ask a sinner _dead_ in trespa.s.ses and sins to serve Him, for all such a one could do would be polluted with sin--his very prayers are polluted--his meditations are polluted--his acts of benevolence are polluted; in a word, he is all polluted, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, and therefore can do nothing acceptable in the sight of G.o.d. But the Lord quickens those that are dead in trespa.s.ses and sins, and then teaches them to "walk worthy of Him as dear children," and to be fruitful in every good word and work, to the praise of His name: and when we do this He graciously condescends to "accept the work of our hands." But not only does Scripture abound with precepts which confirm what has been above stated, it also affords numerous examples and ill.u.s.trations of the same; thus, for instance, the case of Abraham and Lot, in the opening of the book of Genesis. These were both servants of G.o.d, but yet how differently they walked! one loved G.o.d; the other loved the well-watered plains of Sodom: and the consequence was, that while the Lord Himself could meet with Abraham, and sup with him, and, moreover, unfold to him His counsels with reference to Sodom, He merely sends _angels_ to Sodom, and we can plainly perceive in their manner toward Lot their marked disapproval of his circ.u.mstances, for when he invites them into his house, they reply, "_Nay, but we will abide in the street all night_."

This is plain: the angels of the Lord would rather abide all night in the streets of guilty Sodom than go in to a child of His who was not walking in obedience; nor does the fact that they afterwards consented to go in at all interfere with the point which I am seeking to establish; no, their answer speaks volumes of the most solemn and practical instruction to us; they enter into _Lot's house_, it is true; but if they do, it is only to counteract the sad effects of _Lot's sin_. May we, then, seek, by prayer and communion with G.o.d, to keep ourselves in the path of obedience, so that we may prove in our soul's happy experience the meaning of the prayer in our text, "Accept the work of his hands."

We have now arrived at the fifth and last point in this branch of our subject, namely, "Smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again." This is properly the last point, when there shall be neither "adversary nor evil occurrent," we shall rest from our labor and conflict, and enter into possession of that upon which hope now feeds; therefore, when it can be said of our enemies "that they rise not again," we shall be happy indeed.

However, there is much of practical value in this point in the connection in which it stands here, i.e., as _a consequence_ of obedience; there is nothing that gives the soul such marvelous power over enemies as an obedient, holy walk. Every step we take in real obedience to Christ is, so far, a victory gained over the flesh, and the devil; and every fresh victory ministers fresh power for the conflict which follows; thus we grow. And on the other hand, every battle _lost_ only serves to weaken us, while it gives power to our enemies to attack us again. Thus we see that the man whose heart is truly devoted to the Lord will have power to teach--power to wors.h.i.+p; he will increase in substance, for Christ causes those that love Him "to inherit _substance_" (Prov. viii.). He will enjoy more of G.o.d's favor and of the light of His countenance, for "them that honor Me I will honor;" and, finally, he will have enlarged power over all enemies. All these are the fruits of that true Levite devotedness which will enable a man to say "to his father, and to his mother, I have not seen him;" or, in other words, those fruits can only be enjoyed by one who is ready to "leave all and follow Christ." This being the case, then, we can have little difficulty in accounting for the poverty in gifts of ministry--the poverty in wors.h.i.+p--the meagreness of growth--the many interruptions in the enjoyment of divine favor--the almost total lack of power over enemies of which we have all to complain. Many seek to satisfy themselves by saying that we cannot expect the same power in gifts and wors.h.i.+p now as that which fell to the lot of the saints in the apostolic day, and this, of course, we are not going to deny; but then, the question is, Have we as much power and freshness in these things as we might have? I believe we have not--and why? Is not Levi's G.o.d our G.o.d? Yes, He is, blessed be His name, and the same everlasting and abundant fountain of blessing as ever He was, but we, alas, are _far behind_ in the matter of Levi's true devotedness; and this is the root of it all, for it remains unalterably true that "to him that hath shall _more_ be given," and "we cannot serve two masters." This is true--solemn--and practical.

We are now called to consider a scripture which will unfold to us at once the wondrous secret of how a sinner so degraded as Levi could hold a place of such elevation and nearness to G.o.d as that which he afterwards occupied. There is nothing in a sinner by nature with which G.o.d could hold any intercourse; therefore, if ever He brings any one into a place of blessing and high communion, He does so in _pure grace_, and thus _excludes_ "boasting" altogether, for "no flesh shall glory in His presence." Those who look upon it as presumption in a sinner to speak of holding a place of such nearness to G.o.d, seem to lose sight of this completely. It could never be _pride_ that would lead any one into a place where _he_ would be broken to pieces, and be shown that he was altogether corrupt and worthless; if G.o.d were to elevate _flesh_, and bring flesh into a place of nearness to Himself, then indeed there would be some force in the objection on the ground of presumption; but G.o.d does no such thing: the flesh is so far gone in ruin that it cannot be improved, and therefore G.o.d declares in the Cross His mind about the flesh, namely, that it is a condemned thing; but He, by the same Cross, gives the poor sinner _life_, and in the power of _that life_, and not in the power of life in the flesh, He brings the sinner into His presence and sets him down at His table; so that it is not the presumption of a poor prodigal that a.s.signs the place which he is to occupy, but the _grace_ and boundless lovingkindness of the father: thus, G.o.d says to Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before Me," and what then? "Make thee an ark of gopher wood"--and in that ark is Noah raised up beyond the region of judgment, and a judged world, into a place of undisturbed communion.

Now, we shall find the very same principles developed in G.o.d's dealings with Levi, in the scripture which is about to engage our attention. I shall first consider their cleansing; and, secondly, their position and service. First, their cleansing as recorded in

NUMBERS viii. 5-14.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole a.s.sembly of the children of Israel together: and thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be Mine."

This pa.s.sage furnishes us with a very rich and blessed branch of our interesting subject. We were enabled to see, in looking at Levi by nature, that such was his character that G.o.d would have no fellows.h.i.+p with him whatever, and that, so far as Levi was concerned, he should abide forever in _his own habitation_, in company with the "instruments of cruelty" which were therein. But G.o.d will not leave him there, and therefore G.o.d must Himself provide the remedy--G.o.d Himself must cleanse this self-willed, cruel and fierce man. And here we are invited to recall a thought which occurred to the mind in the opening of this paper, viz., that man's sin must ever be brought into the presence of G.o.d's grace. Levi had nothing else to look to; his sin was such as to preclude every thought of human remedy; the law condemned Levi's nature; and G.o.d had p.r.o.nounced him unfit for His presence. And what, then, had Levi to do? Could he set himself with heart and soul to keep the law? Impossible: the law had not only condemned his works, but p.r.o.nounced the curse of G.o.d upon his very nature. The law said, "Thou shalt do no murder;" and having said this, it added, "_Cursed_ is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them." But Levi had murder in his nature, therefore Levi's nature was cursed.

What, then, could Levi do? Might he not cast himself over upon the mercy of G.o.d, with the hope that He would deal lightly with his sins?

No; by no means: G.o.d had given forth His solemn and unalterable decree, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret;" G.o.d could not come into a habitation wherein were "instruments of cruelty."

Thus, then, Levi was completely shut up, without a single means of escape; the law nailed him down to this one point, "Answer my demands." And all that Levi had towards the discharge of these demands was, "anger, fierceness, murder, self-will, cruelty," etc.: poor resources, alas! Nor would the law of G.o.d enter into any composition with the sinner; it should have "the uttermost farthing," or else the word was, "_cursed art thou_." Therefore Levi, _as a man alive in the flesh_, or, in other words, Levi, as seeking to get life through the law, was judged, condemned, and set aside, and it only remained for him to take thus the place of _one dead_, in order that G.o.d might _in grace_ quicken him into new life, which G.o.d was ready and willing to do, and which, as we shall see, He graciously did, according to His own marvelous thoughts, and in His own way.[6] Levi, then, had just to see himself as one that was, in G.o.d's account, _dead_, as we read, "for they (i.e., the Levites) are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; _instead_ of such as open every womb, even _instead_ of the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me: for all the first-born of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt, _I sanctified them for myself_; _and I have taken the Levites for all the first-born of the children of Israel_"

(chap. viii. 16-18).

[6] The reader will, of course, bear in mind that what is stated about Levi in this paper is to be regarded as _typical_ of that which the believer now knows in _reality_ through the Holy Ghost.

The Lord pa.s.sed through the land of Egypt with the sword of justice unsheathed, to smite _all_ the first-born, nor would Israel's first-born have escaped, had not the sword fallen upon the neck of the spotless victim; and thus, as some one has beautifully observed, "There was death in every house, not only in the houses of the Egyptians, but also in those of the Israelites: in the former, it was the _death of Egypt's first-born_; in the latter, the death of G.o.d's Lamb."

The Levites, then, were taken _instead_ of those upon whom the sword of the destroying angel should have fallen; or, in other words, _the Levites were_, _typically_, _a dead and risen people_, and thus were no longer looked at in the circ.u.mstances of nature, but of _new life_ through grace, in which they were placed by G.o.d Himself. And here let me observe that this is the path which every sinner must travel if he would know experimentally anything of Levi's after history. There is no other way in which to escape from the judgment of the law on the one hand, or from the horrid workings of indwelling corruption on the other, than simply to see ourselves "_dead_" to both, and "_alive_ unto G.o.d through Jesus Christ." "How shall we," says the apostle, "that are _dead to sin_ live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. vi. 2-4). And, again, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become _dead_ to the _law_ by the body of Christ, that ye should be _married to another_, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto G.o.d" (chap. vii. 4). But not only are death and resurrection the only possible means by which a sinner can escape the condemnation of the law and the tyrannical sway of sin, they are also the only means by which he can acceptably serve G.o.d. The flesh, or carnal mind, cannot serve G.o.d, for it is not subject to His law, neither indeed can be; therefore we infer that the sources of that life by which we can serve G.o.d are not to be found in the flesh, but only in union with the Lord Jesus in resurrection. "If a man abide not _in me_, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered" (John xv. 6). Consequently, when G.o.d would bring Levi into a place of nearness and service to Himself, He shows him to us as pa.s.sing through those circ.u.mstances which, in the clearest manner, ill.u.s.trate _death and resurrection_; for they are taken instead of those that were as dead, but who escaped through the death of the lamb: and then, having thus pa.s.sed through the circ.u.mstances of death, they are told in chap. viii. to "_put off the old man and put on the new_"--for that is the meaning of the "was.h.i.+ng of water," and "shaving of the flesh," etc. This is in full keeping with what the apostle states to his son t.i.tus: "For we ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers l.u.s.ts and pleasures, _living in malice and envy_, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of G.o.d our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the _was.h.i.+ng of regeneration_, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (t.i.tus iii. 3-6).

But in order that we may have a clearer and more comprehensive view of the ground upon which the Levites stood before G.o.d, I would refer, in as brief and concise a manner as I can, to the offerings connected with their consecration: these were the burnt offering, the meat offering, and the sin offering; all, as we shall see, showing out the Lord Jesus Christ in His varied aspects.[7] And first, the burnt offering: the principles unfolded in this offering are brought out in the first chapter of Leviticus, where we read, "If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord" (ver. 3).

[7] It may be well just to observe here that in considering the offerings above referred to I have merely looked at them with reference to the question of Levi's history.

Here, then, is something real for the soul to feed on and rejoice in.

We have in the burnt offering the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His fulness and perfections, as offering Himself "_without spot to G.o.d_,"

and also as accepted before G.o.d _for us_. In this He was found to be "_a male without blemish_;" so much so, that the One in whose sight the very heavens are not clean, could say, "In whom I am well pleased;" and again, "Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth."

But further, this unblemished offering presents Himself voluntarily at the door of the tabernacle. "No man," says the Lord Jesus, speaking of His life, "taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again: this commandment have I received of My Father." And truly, in tracing the way of the blessed Jesus through this defiled world, we can recognize this feature of the burnt offering in a very striking manner. From first to last His course was marked with all the steadiness and divine uninterrupted calmness of true devotedness to G.o.d. The billows of dark and fierce temptation might roll and toss themselves with a rage and fury which would have crushed one less than G.o.d. The devil might stir up all his deadly malice against Him; man might display all his enmity--enmity which could only be outdone by the eternal friends.h.i.+p of this devoted One. His disciples, moreover, may refuse to "watch with Him one hour." Death may arm himself with all his ghastly terrors, and pour out a cup mixed with h.e.l.l's bitterest ingredients; and further, display his deadly sting in all its infernal keenness and power to wound. The grave may conjure up all its unutterable horrors to make one grand struggle for "_victory_," but _all_ in vain. The answer of this unblemished voluntary offering to all these was, "My meat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." He had His eye upon one object, and that was "the joy that was set before Him." He looked forward to the moment when He would be able to draw forth from the inexhaustible treasuries of eternal love the rich and princely fruits of His hard-bought victory, and pour them forth in divine profusion upon the "travail of His soul;" even the Church, which He loved, and purchased with His own precious blood.

He eagerly antic.i.p.ated "the morning without clouds," when, surrounded by the myriads of His ransomed brethren, He will sound forth in everlasting strains the mighty answer to all the foul aspersions of the enemy as to the love of G.o.d toward the sinner. All these attractions, I say, He had before Him, and therefore He marched onward in the greatness of His strength; "He _steadfastly_ set His face to go to Jerusalem." Lord Jesus Christ, invigorate our poor cold hearts to sound forth the eternal honors of Thine adorable name; and may our lives be more and more the decided evidence of our hearts--love to Thee, for "Thou alone art worthy!" All this is surely most blessed for us; but, blessed as it is, it is not all; there are other strokes from the pencil of the Divine Artist, calculated, in the highest degree, to captivate our spiritual tastes, yea, more, to feed our souls. "He shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and _it shall be accepted for him_, to make atonement for him" (ver. 4). Here, then, is grace! Levi, the self-willed, cruel, fierce, and blood-shedding Levi, is accepted in all the perfectness and acceptableness of this "unblemished male" before G.o.d: whatever of excellency, whatever of value, whatever of purity, G.o.d beheld in this offering, that did He likewise behold in Levi as "accepted _in_ the offering." Thus, look at Levi _apart from_ the offering, and you will find him such that G.o.d could not come into _his_ a.s.sembly: but look at him as _in the offering_, and you find him, through grace, as pure and as perfect as the offering itself. Nothing could surpa.s.s this most excellent grace.

The grace that could take up a sinner from such a pit of corruption as that in which Levi lay groveling, and lead him into such high elevation, deserves the highest note of praise; and, blessed be G.o.d, it shall, ere long, have it from all who, like Levi, have felt its sacred power.

However, we must not enter too minutely into the detail of this burnt offering, and there are just two points further to which I will refer.

The first is presented to us in ver. 6: "And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces." Here we see at once to what a process of strict, jealous and uncompromising scrutiny the Lord Jesus exposed Himself in offering Himself before G.o.d. It was not enough that the animal should be APPARENTLY "without blemish," for the skin, or _outward surface_, might look very well, and at the same time the offering be not at all fit for G.o.d's altar; therefore the _outward surface_ must be removed, in order that this offering may be examined in all its sinews, joints and veins, and thus be found, as to _the springs of action_, _the structure of his frame_, and the source and channels of the life that animated him, a perfectly unblemished offering. But further, "_he shall cut it into his pieces_," i.e., take the offering asunder, and examine its various parts, in order that it may not only form a perfect whole, but that each distinct joint may be found perfect. Thus, in whatever aspect we look at the Lord Jesus, we get divine perfection. He could say to G.o.d, "Thou hast tried Me, and shalt find nothing;" and G.o.d could answer, "I am well pleased." He could say of the devil, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing _in Me_;" and the devil could reply, "I know Thee, who thou art, the _Holy One of G.o.d_." He could say to men, "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" and man could answer, "Truly this was a _righteous man_." Thus, I say, our divine burnt-offering, who voluntarily presented Himself at G.o.d's altar, and there poured forth His most precious blood, was found, in every feature and in every aspect, pure and perfect in the very highest sense of the word, and confessed so by heaven, earth, and h.e.l.l.[8]

[8] We may also observe, in the act of cutting the offering into his pieces, this important truth, that in whatever relations.h.i.+p of life we contemplate the Lord Jesus, we find the same unsullied perfection; whether we consider Him as a public or as a private character, in one position or another, all is alike. Not so with man--here there must be failure in one way or another. If a man is a good public character, he may be the very plague of the family circle, and _vice versa_. And, surely, in all this we learn the glorious truth which shall shortly be owned by all created intelligences, that "He _alone_ is worthy."

All, therefore, having been found pure, and fit for G.o.d's altar, it becomes the happy place of _Aaron's sons_ to send up before G.o.d the sweet savor of this most acceptable offering, as we read: "And the _sons_ _of Aaron_ the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And _the priests_, Aaron's _sons_, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. But _his inwards and his legs_ shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn _all_ on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord" (vers. 7-9). The fat of the offering was G.o.d's peculiar part; no one could with impunity touch that; yea, the punishment for so doing was the same as for eating blood; i.e., it was as wrong and as daringly presumptuous for a man to intrude upon G.o.d's portion of the offering as it was for him to a.s.sume life in his own right, which latter was an open denial of the state of death and ruin in which he was by reason of sin. G.o.d, then, I say, claimed the fat. He alone could feed upon the inward excellency and peerless perfections of Jesus, just as in the case of the unmeasured ointment in Exodus x.x.x., where we see, as well as in the above cited pa.s.sage, that the infinite mind of G.o.d could alone appreciate the infinite value of Christ. But we find _the head_ burnt in connection with the fat, showing us, I suppose, that both the hidden energies of the Lord Jesus and the seat of His understanding were equally suited to be a sweet savor unto G.o.d.

Lastly, the inwards and legs were washed and burned upon the altar, showing us that the secret thoughts, purposes and counsels of the Lord Jesus, as well as the outward development of these in His _walk_, were perfectly pure and fit for the altar: and, in connection with this last point, one cannot help dwelling with comfort upon the marvelous contrast between the Lord Jesus and His poor people. How often may our _outward walk_, typified by "the legs," appear quite right in the eye of man, when, at the same time, perhaps, in the eye of G.o.d, our "_inwards_" may be full of gross impurity. But it is well for us that such was not the case with our great Head: in Him _all was alike_, for _all was pure_. May our hearts, dear Christian reader, enter more and more fully, under the teaching of the Spirit, into the intrinsic excellency of the Lord Jesus; and may we be enabled daily, standing at the altar before G.o.d, to send up in His presence the savor of all this!

As to the meat offering, we need not enter minutely into it. It was composed, as we know, of that which sprang from _the earth_, and such as aptly shadowed out "the Man Christ Jesus," the frankincense thereon marking the entire devotedness of all the actings of Christ's human nature to G.o.d His Father. Nothing was done by Him to meet man's eye, or man's approbation; nothing was done to produce mere effect; no, _all was directly before G.o.d_. Whether we trace the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, while, for thirty years, _He was subject_ to His parents at home; or while, for three years, He was engaged in public ministry amongst the Jews--all was alike: all showed forth the pure frankincense that marked Him, in all things, as G.o.d's peculiar and devoted servant. We may observe further that this meat offering was _baked_ with oil, and _anointed_ with oil; thus showing forth, I suppose, the incarnate Son of G.o.d, who was first "_conceived_ of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. i. 20), and then "_anointed_ with the Holy Ghost"

(Matt. iii. 16; Acts x. 38).

We now come to speak of the sin offering, and may the Lord graciously refresh our spirits while dwelling for a little on the blessed principles unfolded therein. The sin offering is brought before us in Leviticus iv., from whence we may select one case for our present purpose. "If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people, then _let him_ bring for his sin which he hath sinned a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. _And he shall bring_ the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head and kill the bullock before the Lord" (vers. 3, 4).

The reader will, no doubt, observe a marked difference between the above pa.s.sage and that in which the burnt offering was referred to; and the difference so far mainly consists in this, that in the last cited pa.s.sage the words "_voluntary will_" are not found, and this was quite to be looked for. In the burnt offering we were enabled to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ _offering_ Himself voluntarily before G.o.d, in which aspect of His blessed work He could say, "No man taketh it (My life) from Me, _I lay it down of Myself_." In other words, He offered Himself "of His own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." But in the sin offering it is quite different: "_He shall be brought_" and "_He shall be killed_;" i.e., instead of _coming_, _He shall be brought_; and instead of laying down His life of _Himself_, His life _shall be taken from Him_. These, I say, are important distinctions, and such as arise from the very nature of the two offerings. In the burnt offering the Lord Jesus is seen offering Himself in all the unblemished perfectness which belonged to Him; and in this His soul had great delight, because He was presenting that before G.o.d which was so acceptable to Him. But in the sin offering the Lord Jesus is seen standing in connection with that which His pure and spotless soul must have deeply abhorred and keenly resented--abhorred and resented, indeed, in a way of which we cannot form the faintest idea. He is seen, in a word, as standing in connection with _sin_: yea, more, as "made sin" (2 Cor. v. 21). _Thus_ it was that the prophet, through the Spirit, viewed Him when he said, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon Him; and with _His stripes_ we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. liii. 5, 6).

Now I believe that by looking at the two offerings in connection we get a very deep and wondrous view of sin's dark and dreadful enormity in the sight of G.o.d: for sin in this point of view appears sinful just according to the measure of Christ's perfectness in G.o.d's account. If in the burnt offering we were enabled to see that such was the beauty and excellency of Christ that His _whole man_ could go up before G.o.d as a sweet savor, and that G.o.d could "find nothing in Him"

but perfection, as a necessary consequence then we must see in the sin offering the blackness and heinousness of sin, which could oblige G.o.d to hide His face from "His elect, in whom His soul delighted."

This brings us to the next point connected with the sin offering, viz., "He shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head" (ver. 4). Here we have at once the secret of the deep and profound mystery of the three hours' darkness.

It was before observed that G.o.d had to hide His face from the Lord Jesus on the cross, but how are we to account for such a mysterious circ.u.mstance? Simply by the words, "he (the sinner) shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head." If, in contemplating the burnt offering, we were struck by the fact that all the perfectness of the offering was communicated to the "fierce and cruel" Levi, so here we are called upon to adore the grace that devised the wondrous plan whereby that could be effected, which was by imputing to the offering all the sin and defilement of Levi, and dealing with the sin of Levi in the person of the sin offering, in order that Levi himself might be dealt with in the person of the burnt offering.

And all this, be it observed, is conveyed to us in the action of "the laying on of hands." This action was performed in both cases; i.e., Levi laid his hands on the head of the burnt-offering, and Levi laid his hands on the head of the sin offering. As to the _act_, it was the same in each case; but oh, how different the results! they were, in a word, as different as life and death, heaven and h.e.l.l, sin and holiness. In fact, we cannot conceive a wider contrast than that which is observable in the results of this action, to all appearance the same in each case. We may, perhaps, be able to form some idea of it by considering that the act of imposition of hands was at once the imputation of _sin_ to one "_who knew no sin_," but was "holy, harmless, undefiled," and whose very nature abhorred _all sin_. And, on the other hand, it was the imputation of _perfect righteousness_ to one who was by nature "a cruel, fierce, and self-willed murderer."[9]