4th chapter of Leviticus and
verse 1 we read, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through
ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning
things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any
of them, if the priest that is anointed do sin according to
the sin of the people, and 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. And the priest that is anointed
shall take of the bullock's blood and bring it to the tabernacle
of the congregation. And the priest shall dip his
finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before
the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest
shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet
incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation,
and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom
of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. and he shall take off from it
all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering, the fat that
covereth the innards, and all the fat that is upon the innards,
and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which
is by the flanks, and the call above the liver with the kidneys,
it shall he take away. As it was taken off from the
bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall
burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering. and the skin
of the bullock and all his flesh with his head and with his legs
and his innards and his dung, even the whole bullock shall
he carry forth without the cap unto a clean place where the
ashes are poured out and burn him on the wood with fire where
the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt. And if the whole
congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid
from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against
any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which
should not be done, and are guilty, when the sin which they have
sinned against it is known, then the congregation shall offer
a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle
of the congregation. And the elders of the congregation
shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the
Lord, and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord. And the
priest at his anointing shall bring of the bullock's blood
to the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall dip his
finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times before
the Lord, even before the veil. and he shall put some of the
blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord that
is in the tabernacle of the congregation and shall pour out all the blood
at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering which is at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation And he shall
take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. And he
shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a
sin offering, so he shall do with this. And the priest shall
make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. And
he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him
as he burned the first bullock. It is a sin offering for the
congregation. when a ruler hath sinned, and
done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments
of the Lord his God, concerning things which should not be done,
and is guilty. Or if his sin wherein he hath
sinned come to his knowledge, he shall bring his offering,
a kid of the goats, a male without blemish, and he shall lay his
hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where
they kill the burnt offering before the Lord. It is a sin
offering. And the priest shall take of
the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon
the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and shall pour
out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.
And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of
the sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall make an
atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven
him. And if any one of the common
people through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any
of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought
not to be done, and be guilty, or if his sin which he hath sinned
come to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering, a kid
of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he
hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon
the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in
the place of the burnt offering. And the priest shall take the
blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of
the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood
thereof at the bottom of the altar. And he shall take away
all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken from off the sacrifice
of peace offerings. and the priest shall burn it
upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the Lord, and the priest
shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a
female without blemish, and he shall lay his hand upon the head
of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the
place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall
take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and
put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and
shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the
altar. And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat
of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to
the offerings made by fire unto the Lord. And the priest shall
make an atonement for his sin that he have committed, and it
shall be forgiven him. I've read the whole chapter there,
quite a long chapter but a chapter as with the previous ones which
we have read which has different aspects, different offerings,
different instructions for the offerings according to those
who offer. In the first half of the chapter
we read of those offerings made for the sins of ignorance which
are offered up by the priest or by the priest for the congregation.
And these offerings are a bullock. In the second half of the chapter,
we read the offerings offered up by either a ruler or one of
the common people which are taken of the flock, a goat or a lamb. The ruler's offering is to be
male and the common people's offering is to be female. Distinct
parts but as with all the other offerings we have read of in
this book all full of meaning. But the overall subject in this
chapter is ignorance, ignorance. If a soul shall sin through ignorance
against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things
which ought not to be done. Ignorance. Here is a sin offering
not just for those sins, not just for that sin that we are
aware of, that which we would confess and say I know I've done
this before the Lord, I know I'm guilty, but here is an offering
for that vast amount, the greater amount of sin of which we're
guilty, which we are ignorant of. Indeed here is an offering
for that sin that we in our delusion more often than not think is
righteousness. So often we sin before God when
we think we're doing him service. So often we do those things that
we think are right which are actually wrong. and we are full
of pride that we're walking a right when in fact we are rebels against
God and we listen to our own hearts and not listen to his
heart because we're ignorant of his truth, ignorant of righteousness. How much we sin in ignorance The Jews here, who were given
the law by Moses, who thought they served God when they heard
his instructions regarding the priesthood and the sacrifices
here, who for generations followed what they thought they'd been
told and they took these instructions regarding the sacrifices and
they performed them to the letter but they were blind to the meaning,
they were blind to the message conveyed by them. They thought
they did God's service when they slew a bullock for their sin,
when they never saw through those sacrifices the Saviour. who came and was born in their
midst, and grew and lived amongst them, and one day would stand
before them, declaring that he is the Son of God, declaring
that he is the Messiah, the Saviour of whom all the prophets, Moses
included, spake. declaring that he is the Passover
lamb, declaring that he is the fulfillment of all that law and
all those sacrifices and all those types and figures of which
the Jews were so knowledgeable in the letter but so ignorant
of. terms of their meaning and their
application to the Son of God when he came in their midst.
When Christ came unto this people who had this book of Leviticus
who had this law who was so attentive to it when he came unto them
they said away with this man crucify him and they put him
to death They were ignorant of the righteousness of God, ignorant
of the gospel, ignorant of the meaning of the law. As Paul says of them in Romans
10, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God. They're attentive to these things.
They have a zeal. Their life is taken up in religion. Their life is taken up with these
sacrifices, with this priesthood, with this worship. But they have
a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. This law that
they knew pointed to Christ. He is the end of it, the fulfillment
of it. He's what it points to, he's
its object, he's its end, and he is also the cessation of it. When he came, when he offered
himself up, he offered the sacrifice, the one sacrifice necessary for
sin. There was no more need for bullocks
and lambs and goats to be sacrificed. No more need, he'd fulfilled
it. He's the end of the law. For righteousness to everyone
that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith, speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven. That is to bring Christ down
from above. or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring
Christ up again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is
nigh the evening in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the
word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. They knew everything, but they
knew nothing. They knew everything, but they
knew nothing. They were ignorant. Now what
of you? Do you know everything? Everything
about the scriptures, everything about doctrine, everything about
Christ even. and yet know nothing? Are you
ignorant despite your knowledge, despite your zeal, despite your
religion? Are you going about seeking to
establish your own righteousness by your own works, by your own
obedience? When all the law that you're
trying to keep, all the deeds that you're trying to do, all
the religion that you're following If you understood it, actually
points unto Christ and a righteousness which is wrought, which is complete,
which is established. There is no more to do but to
believe. Ignorance. Why is there a sin
offering described in Leviticus 4? Because there is an offering
for our ignorance and our blindness to the truth. Because our greatest
sin is our unbelief and our ignorance of the grace of God. We take
religion, we take the scriptures, we take the gospel and we turn
it into a system of works through our natural mind. Do you know
that after the references to the sacrifices regarding the
sin which is committed through ignorance that after these references
in both Leviticus and Numbers there is no further reference
to the word ignorance until you get to the book of Acts. The next reference in the scriptures
to ignorance and a sin of ignorance is in Acts 3.17 where Peter rebukes
the Jews for their crucifixion of Christ. After these instructions
regarding sins of ignorance in Leviticus and Numbers, the great
reference to a great sin of ignorance is when Peter rebukes the Jews
for their ignorant slaying of Jesus Christ. He says in verse
17, but ye denied, he says in verse 14, but ye denied the holy
one and the just and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you and killed the prince of life whom God hath raised from
the dead whereof we are witnesses. You killed him And his name through
faith in his name hath made this man strong, this man who was
cured beside them that they saw, whom ye see and know. Yea, the
faith which is by him hath given this perfect soundness in the
presence of you all. And now, brethren, I want that
through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. You
slew the Prince of Life, but Peter recognises that they did
it through ignorance, blindness. They knew the scriptures but
they did not know Christ. Paul speaks elsewhere in the
New Testament of the Gentiles, you and I. In Ephesians 4 and
8, 4 verse 18 he says, the Gentiles that they are those
as having the understanding darkened being alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their heart. You and I by nature have an understanding
which is darkened. No matter how clever we may think
we are, no matter how much we may know, we have an understanding
which is darkened. We are alienated from the life
of God, separated from it, at a distance from God, through
the ignorance that is in us, because of the blindness of our
heart. ignorance. Do you recognize your
ignorance? Do you know you have a need of
an offering for your sin of ignorance? Well you do and this people did
and Moses was instructed to point them to the manner in which this
offering should be offered up, through which they are pointed
if their understanding was open to see, to a Saviour who suffered
for their sin, ignorant or not. He denied the Holy One and the
just, and killed the Prince of Life. And now, brethren, I want
that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. The Lord says unto Moses, Speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through
ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning
things which ought not to be done, and to do against any of
them, 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,
the young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.
And later on, in verse 13, if the whole congregation of Israel
sinned through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes
of the assembly, And they have done somewhat against any of
the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should
not be done and are guilty. When the sin which they have
sinned against it is known, then the congregation shall offer
a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle
of the congregation. And the elders of the congregation
shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the
Lord, and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord. And offering for the sins of
ignorance, either of the priest or of the congregation. And this offering for the priest
or the whole congregation is a bullock. Whereas as we've noted
later on, there is an offering for the ruler or one of the common
people. This is taking off the flock,
a goat or a lamb. similar distinction as we've
seen for the peace offering and for the burnt offering. Now why? Well again each regards the connection
with the father and the son and very much has to do with the
headship of those involved. If the priest himself here has
to offer for his own sin. Or if the whole congregation
of which the priest is the representative has sinned, then a bullock is
offered. Because the priest is a figure
of our great high priest Christ. And the rulers and the common
people are pictures of man. Now as we're told in 1 Corinthians
11, the head of man is Christ. The head of the woman is the
man, the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God
the Father. Now when the priest or the congregation
for whom he is the representative brings an offering, it is brought
as it were to the head of the priest, the Father. is brought to God himself and
therefore the offering is a bullock. Either as the priest himself
offers for his own sin or as an offering is given for the
whole congregation who are represented by a priest. Here the head of
the priest is the father, therefore the offering for both these must
be a bullock. But later in the chapter there's
a step removed, it moves away from the priest and the congregation
as a whole to individuals. and to a ruler taken from amongst
the people or to one of the common people themselves. And here we
see the focus moved away from the priest or the congregation
as a whole to men and women as individuals. And we see that
the men and women as individuals must bring their sacrifice in
such a manner as they are aware of he who is their head, which
is Christ. So they bring an offering of
the flock. They, as it were, approach unto God through Christ,
the Lamb of God. Whereas when the Lamb of God
goes unto His Father in their place and takes their sins upon
Him, takes the sins of the congregation upon Him, and owns them as his
own, and offers, as it were, for his own sin, or for the sin
of the congregation as a whole, he comes unto the Father. So when Christ offers, as it
were, his offering before the Father, and this is figured,
figured in this chapter by the offering of the book. whereas
when the people as individuals come unto God they come through
their head which is Christ and their offering is a kid or
a lamb of the flock pointing unto their head which is Christ again unlike with the burnt offering
in chapter one we don't see three categories of offerings in this
chapter we see two because the picture is upon the headship. God the father, pictured by the
bullock, and God the son, as the head of the people as individuals,
pictured by the flock, the lamb. The next thing we notice about
the offerings here, that stands out, is what is done with the
blood Verse 4. 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. And the priest that is anointed
shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle
of the congregation. And the priest shall dip his
finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before
the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. The veil of the
sanctuary. This book, without blemish, perfect,
the perfect offering, its blood is shed and the priest dips his
finger in the blood. and he sprinkles of the blood
seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. The finger. Now there aren't
many references to the finger, either of God or of man in the
scriptures. You don't read many places of
the use of the finger. And where we do read either of
the finger of God or the finger of man are in very particular
places with regard to very particular things. They are always with
regard to the law and the judgment of God. And through it the wrath
of God. Here the priest is instructed
to dip his finger in the blood, to dip his finger in the shed
blood of the sacrifice, which in picture is a demonstration
of the judgment of God, the wrath of God poured out upon this sacrifice,
which has been slain because of the transgression of this
people against the commandment of the law. Because they disobeyed
the law through ignorance, this sacrifice is slain on their behalf. Is slain on this priest's behalf,
is slain on the congregation's behalf. And later with respect
to the sacrifice taken from the flock slain on the individual's
behalf. Each sacrifice is slain because
they have broken God's law and brought God's judgment and wrath
down upon them. and the effect of that judgment
is that blood is shed and the priest is instructed to dip his
finger in that blood. Now if you look elsewhere in
the scriptures to references to the finger you will discover
as I've said that it regards the judgment of God. The very
first reference in the Scriptures is in Exodus 8 and verse 19 when
God sent judgments upon Egypt, when he sent the plagues upon
the nation of Egypt, when he demanded of Pharaoh that he let
his people go and Pharaoh hardened his heart and rebelled against
Almighty God. And God sent fierce judgments
and plagues upon that nation. And the magicians came unto Pharaoh,
and said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And Pharaoh's
heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had
said. Despite all the judgment, despite the display of power,
despite the fact that Pharaoh could see he was fighting against
Almighty God, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. He would not listen. And yet men told him, this is
the finger of God. You have raised your fist against
Almighty God and he but need raise his finger and he can destroy
us. And he did. It's the very first reference
to the finger and it's the finger of God in the scriptures and
it concerns his fury and judgment of that wicked nation and that
wicked Pharaoh who rebelled against him. Further on in Exodus, in
Exodus 31, we read of the law, the giving of the law upon Mount
Sinai, by Moses, written in tablets. We read in verse 18 of chapter
31, and he gave unto Moses when he had made an end of communion
with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of
stone, written with the finger of God. God wrote that law on
tables of stone with his finger in which he declared unto that
people and unto mankind beyond that this is how you will live
before me else I will judge you. Else I will judge you. And the great focus in this chapter
regarding this offering, this offering because of sin which
is committed through ignorance. The great focus is of the law,
is upon the law. This is sinning against the command
of God. that which he wrote on tablets
which he gave unto the people which he wrote with the finger
of God. An ignorance of that law as we
say regarding the laws of the land, the laws of our country.
Ignorance of the law is no defense. You may think, oh well if these
people have sinned without realizing it, why should God be so furious? They didn't mean it, they didn't
know. But ignorance of the law is no excuse, it's for us to
know. And in reality, in our conscience,
we know right and wrong. and the world around us, the
creation, witnesses to what is right or wrong. We know whether
we've heard the letter or not, but our hearts are so fallen,
they're so blind that we don't know. We can know everything
and know nothing, but ignorance of the law is no defense. Later on in the scriptures we
read, in John chapter 8, where Jesus wrote on the ground with
his finger in a chapter which has reference again to this law
and this judgment. In John chapter 8 we read verse
1, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives and early in the morning
he came again into the temple and all the people came unto
him and he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when he had
set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman
was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law
commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him
that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down. and with his finger wrote on
the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued
asking him he lifted up himself and said unto them he that is
without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her And
again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which
heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out
one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And
Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he
said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Have no
man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Here we have a scene where the
custodians of the law, the scribes and the Pharisees, the descendants
of Moses and that generation, come unto Christ and say, Moses
said in the law that a woman like this, a guilty sinner and
adulterer, should be stoned. And as they spake, Jesus stooped
down and with his finger wrote on the ground. Because here they
were, telling God himself, in the person of the Son of God,
about the law that God wrote with his finger in tablets of
stone. His man seeking to tell God what
God knows. Christ knew what that law commanded.
He knew the guilt of this woman and he knew the guilt of her
accusers. The finger. And he knew what it felt like
to dip his finger in his own blood and sprinkle it upon the
altar and upon the mercy seat. he knew more than anyone what
the judgment and the wrath of God according to that law felt
like when he was offered up on the tree in the place of sinners
such as this woman this people knew what she did they weren't
ignorant of that but they were ignorant of their own sins until
Christ spoke unto them and their conscience was pricked and when
he said unto them he that is without sin among you let him
first cast a stone at her not one of them could with a clear
conscience say they had no sin and they each went out one by
one They which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience,
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the
last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the
midst. You might be ignorant, but your conscience tells you,
you know you're guilty. You know you're guilty. Well,
this woman knew she was guilty. And she was guilty. But there
was one sat before her writing in the sand, writing on the ground
with his finger, who would one day be slain by her accusers. be crucified upon a tree and
shed his blood and dip his finger in his blood and sprinkle it
that she should be forgiven. He would offer for the sins of
ignorance of all his people, the sins of ignorance of the
woman, the sins of ignorance of the bride of Christ. And that blood in which he dipped
his finger which he sprinkled upon the horns of the altar,
would take away all her sin and atone for all her sin. And God the Father would look
upon it and say, thou art forgiven. Forgiven. Forgiven. Yes, Christ was slain. His blood
was shed. as that great offering for sin. But when he rose again, and appeared
under his disciples, and then appeared unto that disciple who
was not then present, Thomas, we read of the last reference to a finger
in the scriptures. In John 20 verse 25 we read of
Thomas who said unto them except I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the
nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe except
I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my
finger into the print of the nails except I put my finger where those nails pierced the
sun and thrust my finger and my hand into his side where the
blood came forth I will not believe ignorant you see Thomas hadn't
seen Christ as they had seen him. And when they told him of
Christ, he said, I must see him and I must touch that blood.
I must touch with my finger. And soon enough, Thomas would
see him. And Christ said unto him, reach forth your hand and
touch. Reach forth your finger. And he did and he knew and he
saw. and he saw that his sin of ignorance
his unbelief had been taken away by the blood of Christ that blood
which Christ his great high priest had dipped his finger into and
sprinkled seven times before the Lord the finger in the blood
this judgment you see judgment and Thomas wanted to touch with
his finger the place where the judgment from the finger of God
came down upon his own son. The finger of God wrote the law
and the finger of God demanded that that law be exacted upon
the sacrifice and the sacrifice Christ was slain and the blood
was shed and the priests sprinkled with his finger the blood before
the Lord and the sinner Thomas touched with his finger that
blood and knew its application. Have you touched with your finger
that blood? Do you know its application?
The priest sprinkled that blood seven times before the Lord,
seven times, it was a perfect atonement. Perfection was wrought,
sins, all the sins of all his people were taken away and washed. There was nothing left to be
done. It was perfect. And the carcass
of the offering, all the fat, the kidneys, the skin, the flesh,
The flesh of this offering was carried forth without the camp
unto a clean place where the ashes are poured out and burnt
on the wood with fire. The blood having been shed and
poured out, the carcass is taken outside the camp where sin itself
is judged in the flesh and burnt and destroyed with fire under
the burning fiery wrath of God. Just as Christ himself, as we
read in Hebrews 13, was taken outside the camp, outside of
Jerusalem, outside the camp of the custodians of religion in
Jerusalem. The scribes, the Pharisees said
away with him and they gave him up unto the Romans and they said
he's not one of us, he's outside. He's not part of our church,
not part of our religion. We disowned him and he was taken
outside as a scapegoat taken outside and burnt. And when he
was burnt, under the fiery outpouring of God's wrath upon the tree,
upon the wood, burnt with fire upon the wood. He took away sin
forevermore. He delivered his people, not
just from their sins in the blood, but from their sin. And we saw here, how the priest
offers the bullock and the congregation offers the bullock and we see
later how the individuals bring from the flock When a ruler hath
sinned and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the
commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should
not be done and is guilty, or if his sin wherein he hath sinned
come to his knowledge, he shall bring his offering, a kid of
the goat, a male without blemish, and he shall lay his hand upon
the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill
the burnt offering before the Lord. It is a sin offering. Now the ruler takes a kid of
a goat, a male. Because, as I've said, he's seen
here as the individual, a man. Whether a ruler of the common
people, still a man, whose head is Christ and who must approach
unto God the Father through Christ and can only Come unto God through
that great sacrifice for sin, the Lamb of God. But we see two
distinctions between the ruler here and the people over whom
he rules. The ruler's kid is a male without
blemish. The common people's offering,
kid or lamb, is a female without blemish. A female. Why male for one and female for
the other? Because here we see the distinguishment between the ruler and the one
who follows. Between, as it were, Christ on
one side and his people on the other. Between the bride and
the bridegroom. Here they as one come together,
united with their saviour. A people, common people, united
with their ruler. And there's a male offered up
and a female offered up with him. The bride and the bridegroom
come together in Christ, who goes forth for them as their
sacrifice, their lamb shed in their place. and here again with
these sacrifices the priest dips his finger in the blood and sprinkles
sprinkles we don't read in these sacrifices and these two at the
end of how many times it's sprinkled but we read that it's sprinkled
and the reason we don't read of the times is because It's
in the priest who goes forth for them and his offering, Christ
himself made sin for his people that there is perfection to be
found. It's because Christ was made sin that they are made to
be the righteousness of God in him. And the attention on the
perfection of his blood and his person and his righteousness
is seen in him. Oh, the unity we see between
God's people, united unto Christ and brought unto the Father.
Christ came for a people. He gathered up His bride from
the four corners of the earth and He gathered them to be His
bride, to lead them into His Father's house. He brings the
flock together unto as it were the book, the herd. And they're one. They're one. But have you seen it? And has
it been wrought for you? Have your ignorant sins, has
the blindness of your ignorant heart been atoned for? Has this blood of Christ been
shed for you? Have you, like Thomas, taken
your finger and put it in the handprints, and taken your hand
and thrust it in the side of Christ, and as it were, taken
the finger of faith and dipped it in the blood? Has this offering
been offered for you? Have you seen by faith that offering,
that As God, by grace, led you to see a Saviour crucified for
you, and have you dipped your finger in that blood, the finger
of faith? Or will you remain in ignorance,
blindness? Or will you, like Thomas, believe
on the Son of God, who shed his blood for sinners such as you? Amen.