of sin, yet even in that case portions of the sacrifice were burnt as a sweet savour upon the altar. And the burntoffering, which has regard more especially to the death of Christ as that through which we are perfectly justified, and according to the value of which we are accepted of God; still keeps in view the fact, that that death has also atoned for us as sinners. In the shedding of blood, sin, the cause of death, is always acknowledged. And as without shedding of blood there could be no remission; so also, there can be no justification but by the blood. The song of (Rev. v. 9, 12) is, “Thou art worthy. . . . . for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood."

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," seems especially to contemplate the death of the Lord Jesus, in all the value of the burnt-offering. We claim His worthiness, whilst we own our worthlessness. We are accepted in the Beloved, whilst in ourselves, "we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

The fourth part of the chapter here concludes with the same words before repeated, "as the Lord commanded Moses."

THE RAM OF CONSECRATIONS.

"And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

"Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.”Exod. xxix. 19, 20.

"And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

"And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

"And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about"-Lev. viii. 22-24.

THE last sacrifice offered was "the Ram of Consecration." Two rams were brought, (v. 2 ;) one was offered for a burnt-offering, and the other is called "the ram of consecrations;" or, of filling (the hands.) The word consecrations is in the plural, and is found in Exod. xxix. 22, 26, 27: "for it is a ram of consecrations”"the ram of Aaron's consecrations". crations." Lev. viiii. 22, 29. In Exod. xxix. 34, the word occurs in the plural-" flesh of the consecrations," as it ought to be throughout.

"the ram of the conse

Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of this ram, and Moses slew it, as in the two former cases. The death of the victim following immediately upon this act of identification.

"And Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet." Thus the ear, the right hand, and the right foot of Aaron and his sons, were dedicated to God

by blood. From henceforth their ear was to listen to no sounds, but such as might be heard in connection with the blood of the sacrifice.

So also the believer at the present time. His ear has been consecrated to God, through the death of Christ, that he might hearken to His voice; inclining his ear to hear heavenly words; and listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd. He is to allow no whispers of temptation, and no sound of human revelry or ambition, to enter his priestly ear: but to be deaf as his Lord was, opening the ears of others, whilst He Himself heard not the temptations of the enemy. Isa. xlii. 19, 20. That perfect servant of Jehovah was blind and deaf-blind to all fascinations of the world, and deaf to every suggestion of Satan. And when at last led to the slaughter, He was dumb, uttering no words of reviling or threatening when falsely accused; not opening His mouth when buffetted, spit upon, mocked, and crucified.

May we set before ourselves the blessed example of our Lord, and remember that by His blood we have a priestly circumcised ear.

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The thumbs of the right hand were also touched with the blood. The right hand is in Scripture used to express power. "Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power; thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy." Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them." Exod. xv. 6, 12. And also skill. "A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart, at his left." Eccl. x. 2. That is, he guides the activities of his hand with wisdom: he is prompt also to execute the counsels of his heart.

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget (her cunning.) Psa. cxxxvii. 5. The psalmist finds it as impossible to forget Jerusalem, as it would be impossible for his right hand not to act with rapidity and skill at the prompting of his will.

The thumb is that part which peculiarly distinguishes the human hand from the paw of those animals, which

in appearance most resemble the human form. It is the most valuable finger of the hand; without it, this member of the body would be comparatively useless.

The priestly hand touched with the blood was consecrated to handle gifts and sacrifices for God. Its skilfulness was devoted to the Lord's service, and the priest was not to touch any unclean or dead thing. Another beautiful type of the occupations of the believer, whose business in life is to serve God in all that he undertakes. Even when handling the things of this world, he is to do so to God's glory. His faculties, his powers of mind and body, are for the Lord; the precious blood has separated him off to God, and the most ordinary actions of life, which as an unbeliever he performed in self-will, and for mere selfpleasing, he is now to do "to the glory of God."

In all things he is to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;" and strange as it may seem, he is not to labour for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. This latter precept of the Lord Jesus has been softened down by some to mean, that " we are not to labour inordinately, or exclusively, for the meat which perisheth, and that if the text were taken without some qualification, it would encourage idleness." In answer to this, it may be said that we have no right to qualify the text. The words of the Lord are distinct and emphatic, "labour not for the meat which perisheth." The difficulty is easily solved. We are, even in the necessary occupations of life, to make the Lord's glory our object, and not to be labouring for the meat which perisheth, as if that were our only purpose. We are to do all things in such a way, that we may be exhibiting ourselves as sons o God without rebuke, shining as lights in the worldf Phil. ii. 14, 15; and we are not to live as if we had. two existences, a secular, and a religious.

Lastly, the blood was put upon the great toes of their right feet. The Hebrew word is the same for great

toe as for thumb. The principal finger of the most active hand, and the principal toe of the most active foot, were alike touched with the blood. No pathway was to be followed, in which the priest could not walk with the blood anointed foot. His feet being holy, he was ever to tread upon holy ground, passing his life in the precincts of the sanctuary. So the priests to God of the present time are to be careful in their walk and conduct, lest they be found treading unholy paths, mingling themselves in the world's follies and amusements, forgetful of the blood whereby they have been. sanctified. Our feet were naturally swift to shed blood-destruction and misery were in our ways-the way of peace we once knew not. Rom. iii. 15, 17. Now, our path is to be that of the righteous; our feet are to be beautiful, as messengers of glad tidings; our ways are to be ways of pleasantness and peace. May we avoid all companies into which we cannot go with the blood sprinkled feet; into which we cannot carry the good news of the blessed name of Jesus. The ear, the hand, and the foot are the Lord's. "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body." Ist Cor. vi. 19, 20.

Moses next 4' sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. ver. 24. The same blood which had been put upon the priests, was sprinkled on the altar. Thus the vessel at which they habitually ministered was alike separated off to God with themselves. The patterns of things in the heavens being purified with these typical sacrifices, whilst the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Heb. ix. 23.

"Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:

"And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right shoulder:

"And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before