of divine justice, and the sternest requirements of perfect holiness, by virtue of what He Himself was. The unspotted and undefiled Saviour-God manifest in the flesh, infinite as to capacity, perfect as to purity, within and without, the Eternal Life which was with the Father-was able to offer to God an all-sufficient ransom, and drink up all the suffering and wrath our sins justly merited at the hands of God. And this He did (which none other could) when He offered Himself 66 once for all" without the gate. It was there the Peace-offering was killed, there the blood was sprinkled, and there the fat, &c., (the inward richness and value of the victim,) was tried by fire, duly estimated, and found to be a sweet savour (a savour of rest) unto the Lord. The unalterable tale of redeeming love, that Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, was there told out. From that fountain of living waters, all the ransomed myriads drink eternal blessings. From that altar they learn the new song, and, in the perpetual remembrance and ceaseless apprehension of its everlasting value, they will sing before the throne, "Thou art worthy, for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood," &c. It is in the midst of the throne of heaven that the Lamb slain is now knownaccepted and glorified at God's right hand. having offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, He sat down. Rejected by earth, He was welcomed in heaven, highly exalted, and crowned with glory and honour. Hence the narrative of the Peace-offering concludes "a sweet savour unto the Lord." Here God can rest concerning His people, and here the soul of a believ ing sinner rests also, as we sometimes sing, 'Here we rest, in wonder viewing From the sacrifice He made.' God is now, therefore, "preaching peace by Jesus Christ”—an already accomplished peace-both to Jews and Gentiles: peace by faith, through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Rom. v. 1,)-peace with God, who justifies from all things through what Christ has done (Acts xiii. 39); peace in the heart and mind, because God declares that the blood of (the offering) Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin-it once and for ever purges the conscience, which nothing else can do (Heb. x. 2). Blessed it is thus to know God in the slain and umblemished offering! It is not a question of attainment on our part, but a past transaction, a settled fact, known to faith, that Christ has made peace, and that God has accepted it with delight on our behalf: it was most truly a sweet savour unto the Lord. In the burnt-offering, all the offering was consumed upon the altar,* because it represented Jehovah's righteous Servant wholly, unceasingly, and unreservedly, surrendering Himself unto God, even unto death, that by the obedience of One many might be made righteous. Not so, however, the peace-offering; but, as we have seen, God had (so to speak) His part, the worshipper fed on his part, while the wave breast and heave shoulder afforded food for the priests; thus showing us, very blessedly, the position of fellowship with God and *See vol. i. page 22. with one another which the accomplished peace of the Lamb slain has introduced us into. Oh, to be able, by the Holy Ghost, to realize more of this true fellowship! What unfathomable depths of love are here! The far off made nigh by the blood of Christ! What a nearness! What an intimacy of holy union! Infinite love providing a perfect offering to establish an everlasting covenant of peace between God and sinful men. Hence the Spirit's pledge, "Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." Happy those, who, in the clear consciousness of having believingly laid their hands on this all-sufficient Offering, can say, Peace with our holy God, Peace from the fear of death, Peace through the Saviour's precious blood, It is well to observe, that fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, and with one another, is the result of the accepted Peace-offering; and that fellowship consists in the true estimate of this peace. It is entirely spiritual, and its experimental enjoyment is the communion of the Holy Ghost, who takes of Christ's and shews unto us. It is God, and Christ, and the purged worshipper, finding rest and satisfaction in the Peace-offering-thinking of, estimating, and enjoying the work of peace together. This is fellowship. God is glorified, and the sinner saved. Sin is When the soul realizes peace with God, it is then in a position to enjoy fellowship with God; and strength for service and conflict will be the result. Let peace be lacking, all comfort of fellowship and strength will decline. "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh. viii. 10). We need to grow in the knowledge of God, for peace to increase-" Acquaint now thyself blotted out, and the sinner justified. All is peace. "Mercy and truth are met together: righteousness and peace have kissed each other." God finds peace in the offering touching our sins; He rests peacefully toward us in the sweet smelling savour. Christ sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied; not one is lost of all that the Father gave Him. At His own supper with His disciples, the very Sacrifice for sin, the Offerer, the Priest who entered into heaven by His own blood, gave thanks, and dipped with His disciples in the same dish: and, doubtless, when we assemble in His precious name, thus to remember Him, He not only says to us, "PEACE be unto you," while shewing us His hands and His side, and welcomes us with, “Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved;" but He Himself, in the unchangeableness of His own perfect love, cannot but dip with us again in the dish, and take peculiar delight in the glorious character of the peace He has made. Well might He say to His disciples, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I GIVE unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you." Wondrous peace! God and Christ and the believer feeding together, finding refreshment and rest in the same blessed fountain, secured for ever through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant. May we have grace, beloved, to eat the Peace-offering as purged and welcomed worshippers: and know the joy of feeding on Him who rose again from the dead on the third day. with Him, and be at peace (Job xxii. 21). God is the author of peace—“Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me: and he shall make peace with me (Isaiah xxvii. 5). DAVID BRINGING UP THE ARK. 2 SAMUEL vi. ONE of the first cares of David, after he had been acknowledged king by the tribes at large, was to see after the Ark of God, and to place it near him (Psalm cxxxii). It must have remained at Kirjath-jearim, in the house of Abinidab, near about 100 years, under the care, most probably, of the priests. It would appear that the solemn scene which had been enacted at Bethshemesh, on the occasion of its being brought back by the milch kine from the land of the Philistines, when the people were slain for looking into* it (1 Sam. vi. 19), had been forgotten; for in David's first attempt, he does not appear to have been impressed with a seriousness suitable to the occasion. We do not read of his seeking the mind and help of God in the matter, but we are told that "David (1 Chr. xiii. 1) consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader;" even the priests seem not to have come into his mind. The pride and pomp of earthly glory cannot stand before the Ark of the Lord of Hosts. Humility and self-loathing became David, rather than the clank of arms, and the pomp and circumstance of war. But his mistake was soon made manifest. Uzzah put forth his hand to the Ark of God, for the oxen shook it, and "there he died before God." We also, as Christians, are often under the chastisement of God To have looked into the Ark, the people must have taken off the mercy seat. To see the law without the mercy seat covering it, is death to us. |