It was oil that was used by Jacob at Bethel in setting apart his stone pillow to commemorate his vision; and every priest and king was thus set apart for his office. Oil, used on these occasions, is elsewhere appropriated to mean the Spirit's operation-the Spirit setting apart whom he pleases for any office.

The frankincense, fragrant in its smell, denoted the acceptableness of the offering. As a flower or plant— the rose of Sharon or the balm of Gilead-would induce any passing traveller to stoop down over them, and regale himself with their fragrance, so the testimony borne by Christ's work to the character of Godhead brings the Father to bend over any to whom it is imparted, and to rest over him in his love. The Lord Jesus says to his Church, in Song iv. 6, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and the hill of frankincense." This spot must be the Father's right hand. In like manner, then, it ought to be the holy purpose of believing souls who are looking for Christ, to dwell so entirely amid the Redeemer's merits, that, like the maidens of King Ahasuerus (Esther ii. 12), they shall be fragrant with the sweet odors, and with these alone, when the bridegroom

comes.

When Christ presented his human person and all he had, he was, indeed, fragrant to the Father, and the oil of the Spirit was on him above his fellows. (See Isaiah lxi. 1; and Psalm xlv. 7; and Heb. ix. 14.)

And equally complete in him is every believer also. Like Jesus, each believer is God's wheat-his fine flour. He is clothed in the fine linen, white and clean, and stands by Christ's side, in the likeness of Christ. Even now is he able to say, "As He is (at the Father's right

hand), so are we in this world”—as completely righteous, as really accepted. (1 John iv. 17.)

Ver. 2. "And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar to be an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord."

One of Aaron's sons was to take a handful out of what was brought, a handful of flour, and a proportional quantity of the oil. Along with this he was to take "all the frankincense," because all was needed to express the complete acceptance. This is "the memorial of the meat-offering"*—a part for the whole. In dedication of our body and property, we need not go through every article in detail, but we take some part as a specimen, and an earnest of all the rest.

In Acts x. 4, Cornelius" "prayers and alms" are called "a memorial." These alms and prayers were a specimen of the whole man's dedication. He was a believer, like old Simeon, already accepted, and this meat-offering of his, the dedication of self and substance, expressed by prayers and alms, was acknowledged on the part of God by the gift of more light and liberty.

Ver. 3. "And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'; it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire."

* Isa. lxvi. 3, refers first to the burnt-offering, speaking of slaying the lamb and the ox; and then in the next clause, to the meat-offering, speaking of him that "offers a and maketh a frankincense memorial” Milton has, without authority, blended these two together

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in his description of Abel's offering, Par. Lost, xi.

The offering is declared "Most holy." And to show that the mass was so, as well as the handful, the remnant is given to Aaron's sons to feast upon. Even Aaron, who bore on his mitre "Holiness to the Lord," could safely eat of it.

In this manner we are assured of the true and thorough acceptance of our dedicated things, when once we are forgiven. How complete is the assurance we have of the acceptance of Christ and all that are his! Nay, even of their substance. There is a blessing "on their basket and on their store." So completely is its curse removed, that under the tree in the plains of Mamre, angels, and the Lord of Angels, eat of Abraham's bread and his fatted calf.

But the declaration, "It is a thing most holy," teaches us how we should regard every member of our body as belonging to God; and every thing we possess. "Ye are not your own." How little do we feel it to be so.

"It is most holy."

Ver. 4. "And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour, mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil."

A part of the type of the fine flour, already noticed, may be that Christ was ground by sore agony, and endured unutterable anguish when bruised for us. And so, the wine of the drink-offering, afterwards noticed, would imply a reference to the wine-press, out of which he came. And in like manner, the oven here mentioned, and the other articles exposed to the fire, would contain a reference to his enduring the fierce flame of wrath.*

* Willet quotes Pellicanus, who applies these varieties in the preparation of the meat-offering to the manifold nature of afflictions: "Nunc Clibanus, nunc Patilla, nunc Craticula dici possunt:" a true remark, whether contained here or not.

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But admitting this use of the emblems to be doubtful, we find a certain and obvious meaning in the diversities of form in which the meat-offering appears. As in chap. i. we saw that God, for the sake of the less wealthy, took a lamb or a dove, when a more costly sacrifice would have been beyond the reach of the offerer; so it is here for the sake of the different ranks in society, the meat-offering has a form in which any one may be able to present it. If he is rich, let him bring his fine flour from the finest of the wheat. If he is not able to do this, let him bring "a meat-offering baken in the oven." If he cannot afford this, having no oven, then let him bring somewhat "baken in the fire-plate,” or pan. If even this is not in his power, he will at least possess a frying-pan, and let him bring what it prepares. God excuses none, of whatever rank, from dedicating themselves and their substance to him. The widow has two mites to cast into the Lord's treasury. In 1 Chron. xxiii. 29, this gradation seems referred to when it is said, “For that which is baken in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size."

The oven was a utensil which was generally possessed by all the middle ranks of life. If they have this, let them prepare in it "cakes” (bn), of a larger size, and "wafers" (P), cakes of a smaller size, and bring these as their meat-offering. The larger cakes must have "oil mingled through them; the smaller, and thinner, must have oil on them. In both cases the oil that sets apart must not be wanting. Nay, where it is possible, it must form part, as it were, of the substance, by being mingled with it.

And there must be no leaven; for leaven indicates corruption at work. If we give grudgingly, with rest

less, impatient, tumultuous, anxious feelings, we are offering with leaven. We must dedicate self and substance in Christ's spirit: "Not my will, but thine be done."

Ver. 5. "And if thy oblation be a meat-offering, baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil.”

This is another form in which it may be presented, if the man be yet poorer than the last mentioned; if he use the "fire-plate," in his house, and not "the oven.” The only article of furniture absolutely necessary for preparing food seems to have been the "frying-pan" of ver. 7. Anything more than that indicated comfort and ease. The "cakes" and "wafers" of last verse evidently intimated a moderate degree of luxury. And this man also possessed some degree of independence in his circumstances. Perhaps he occupied the station of a tradesman, if not somewhat above that. He, too, must dedicate all to the Lord.

Ver. 6. "Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon; it is a meatoffering."

This division into pieces may show that every part of our substance is to be given up. We must allow God to divide and choose and appropriate as he pleases. And then, each part must be "anointed with oil;" set apart by the priest's hand. Both the whole as a whole, and every part of it, must be given up to the Lord.

Ver. 7. "And if thy oblation be a meat-offering, baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil,"

The shallow frying-pan (a shallow vessel of earth, used to this day by the Arabs, and called Tagen) indicated