Laws of the Oblations
J.A. Macdonald Leviticus 22:17-33 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,… These naturally follow those concerning the priests, which form the subject of the earlier portion of this chapter. They may be considered - I. WITH RESPECT TO THE SACRIFICES. 1. These must be the animals prescribed. (1) Clean creatures. To offer swine upon God's altar would be an outrageous insult to his purity. It would be figuratively equivalent to asking his acceptance and approval of passions and conduct the most filthy and loathsome. To attempt to foreshadow in the sacrifice of a hog the sacrifice of Christ would be against the most sacred propriety a horrible blasphemy. (2) Clean creatures of kinds specially selected by God. These are "of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats" (verse 19). The roebuck and the hart are clean creatures, but not of the kinds selected, so, however they may be fitted to represent saints, viewed under particular aspects, they were too wild and intractable to be made fit emblems of Christ. 2. They must be individuals without blemish. (1) They must be free from disease. Therefore, if they have "scurvy," or a "wen," or a "running scab," which are symptoms of a diseased state of the blood, they are pronounced unfit. For disease is generally taken as an emblem of sin, and in this sense the reason should be understood, "because their corruption is in them" (verse 25). (2) There must be no natural deformity, such as having any part too much extended, or, on the other hand, too much contracted. "We are shapen in iniquity." From our birth we are marred with moral deformities. But not so Jesus. He was in his birth the "holy thing." (3) They must have no acquired blemish - no blindness, lameness, fracture, or mutilation of any kind. By actual transgression we have fallen upon moral disasters. But Christ "fulfilled all righteousness," and must not be foreshadowed by any imperfect creature. (4) The same perfection was required in the sacrifice that was required in the priests. The best service and the best sacrifice should be given to the best Being (see Malachi 1:8, 12-14). The priest and the sacrifice were alike types of the same Lord Jesus, our Priest and Sacrifice. (5) But who is to judge of the fitness of the victim? The Jews say the sagan, or suffragan high priest, had to determine this. Now, Annas sustained that office under Caiaphas, and he accordingly sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas, viz. as a Sacrifice fit to be offered (see John 18:12-14, 24). The offerer also had to pass his judgment upon the creature he selects from his herd or flock. If Pilate be viewed as a representative person in this capacity, we hear him say," I find no fault in this man." But God himself is the ultimate Judge; and has he not emphatically approved of Christ? (See Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; John 12:28.) 3. Blemished creatures may be given as free-will offerings. (1) These were not prescribed in the Law, though permitted. They were things which piety might add to what was essential. They were not types of Christ, so they might be imperfect. (2) Piety will give to God the most perfect thing she possesses when she would acknowledge his worthiness to be honoured. But she would also express with humility the imperfection of her best services, and this she might do most appropriately in the offering of a blemished oblation. (3) But when the free-will offering is for a vow, then an imperfect thing will not be accepted. In this case the offering is prescribed in the Law because it is beyond the power of the offerer to retract (see Acts 5:4). And the sacrifice for a vow was a figure of Christ, who is pledged in the covenant of our redemption (see Psalm 22:25; Psalm 40:6, 7). II. WITH RESPECT TO THEIR OFFERING. 1. They may not be offered till after the eighth day. (1) For this there was a reason of humanity. The creature must remain "seven days under the dam." The Laws of God are framed to inculcate kindliness and tenderness of heart. (2) It has also a reason of health. For the animal is scarcely formed in the first week of its life. Its hair and its hook are not grown. It is not wholesome food. (3) But the typical reasons are the more important. The "eighth day" was that upon which circumcision took place. The import of both rites, that of circumcision and that of sacrifice, is the same. Both represent the cutting off of the Holy Seed out of the land of the living, to secure the blessings of the covenant to men. The Jews say that the eighth day was specified so that a sabbath must be included, for that "the sabbath sanctifies all things." No doubt, when the great sabbath of the eighth day arrives, which is that of the new heavens and earth, all things in that state will be sanctified. That state will be the consummation of the blessings of the covenant. 2. An animal and its young may not be killed the same day. (1) This law respects fowls as well as larger creatures (see Deuteronomy 22:6). It inculcates tenderness of heart. (2) But it has also a gospel import. It teaches that utter desolation is inconsistent with the idea of atonement. Life is spared because life is sacrificed. The death of Christ is vicarious; it is for the life of the world. 3. It should be eaten the same day on which it is killed. (1) The moral here is that we must not delay to avail ourselves of the benefits of redemption in Christ. On the morrow (verse 30) it may be too late. (2) On the third day it will be certainly too late (see Leviticus 7:15; Leviticus 19:6, 7). The third day, or age, is that of our resurrection (see Hosea 6:2). If we neglect salvation until then, it cannot be realized. Let us improve the opportunities of our probation. 4. They should be offered devoutly. (1) The Name of God must not be profaned. God's Name is hallowed by keeping his commandments (verses 31, 32). The Name of God will be hallowed when his kingdom is come, for then his will shall be done upon earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9, 10). (2) He is to be recognized as our Redeemer. "I am the Lord which hallow you, that brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God." That redemption was only a figure of the great redemption through which God hallows his people in truth, of which also the oblations of the Law were figures. This is never to be forgotten. - J.A.M. Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, WEB: Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,