transgression, and let death and eternity be placed in the vivid light of the record of heaven, and then the fearful apprehensions of the soul will pass the power of language to express. And, oh, the relief obtained by that man, who feeling thus, is led to perceive the fulness and all-sufficiency of the atonement of Christ, and to bury his anxieties and his terror there! The burden is removed from his shoulders; and while feelings of pungent sorrow and deep self-abasement are excited, as he looks to him whom his sins have pierced, there are at the same time produced the joy of salvation, and the confidence of hope. The heart is softened and subdued, and fired with gratitude and love, the pardoned sinner yields himself to God, as a living sacrifice.

The way in which sinners come to the actual personal enjoyment of the benefit of the atonement, was signified by the appointment that he who brought an offering should lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice, and by confessing his sins over it, lay or transfer his guilt upon it in a typical and ceremonial way. He and the victim became thus as it were united. Now the truth of this figure is found in the exercise of faith in Christ, for he who believing in Christ submits to the righteousness of God, or in other words, acquiesces in the divine plan of justification through him, thereby sets his seal to what the Redeemer did, and being thus united to him, he is treated as one with him in law, inasmuch as His work is reckoned to him as though it were his

own.

SECTION VII.

OF THE LEVITICAL PURIFICATIONS.

FROM a very early period, water and its application to the body have been employed as symbols of purification from the guilt and the moral defilement of sin. Thus Jacob when about to erect an altar to God, said to his household," Be clean, and change your garments; and let us arise, and go up to Bethel," Gen. xxxv. 1-3. The Israelites before they received the law were required to wash themselves; and when the covenant was ratified at Sinai, they were sprinkled with a mixture of water and blood, Exodus xix. 10; xxiv. 8. The priests at their consecration were purified both by water and blood; and as often as they went about any part of the sanctuary service, they were to wash themselves with water. The Levites when devoted unto God were sprinkled with water of purifying; and the children of Israel at large, upon any uncleanness, were to wash with water, and in many cases with particular ceremonies. When for the purpose of symbolical or ceremonial purification the whole body was to be washed, it was always done, as decency required, by the person himself; but in all other cases, the rite was administered by another. Thus, as a proof of the former, the unclean person is commanded to bathe himself in water, Lev. xv. 5, 6. Num. xix. 7, 8; and as a proof of the latter, Moses sprinkled the Levites with water, Num. viii. 7, 20, 21; and a clean

person sprinkled the unclean with water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, Num. xix. 18, 19.

Now, it must be obvious on the one hand, that external impurity and ceremonial uncleanness could not of themselves be offensive to God; and on the other, that external purification could not of itself remove moral defilement. The design, therefore, of the legal lustrations must have been to signify, by appropriate signs, the evil nature of sin, and the means of deliverance from it. Sin is hence represented as uncleanness and pollution, that men from their feelings on the sight of what is loathsome and unclean, may be able to form some idea of the divine abhorrence of iniquity. And the sinner is represented as so loathsome and defiled in the sight of God, as to be excluded from his presence. Jehovah is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and he cannot look upon iniquity, Habakkuk i. 13. Such laws in regard to purity of body inferred a holiness of a higher nature, and tended to produce impressions of the moral character of the great object of worship, and a deep sense of guilt and unworthiness. But while the fearful situation of sinners was thus strikingly exhibited, the purifications of the law served to prefigure that fountain which has graciously been opened for sin and uncleanness. Men were thus taught, that a Saviour was provided, through which the guilt and defilement of sin should be purged, and the sinner admitted with acceptance to the presence of God.

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The union of blood and of water, and their arate use in the same instances of cleansing, marked

the connection between the atonement of Christ, and purification from sin. Almost all things, for this

reason, were purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there was no remission. But as blood, literally considered, rather defiles than cleanses, the naturally purifying element of water was frequently joined with it, as an emblem of the legal purification effected by it. The one thus signified the atonement which was made for guilt, and the other the purifying effect of the atonement in delivering from its penal consequences. Another reason for the addition of water to blood was, that it very fitly signified the intimate connection between the atonement of Christ, and purification from the moral defilement of sin, through the agency of the Spirit of God. And this may be applied to the mixing of water with the ashes of the heifer. Jesus came by water and blood, as was signified, when from his pierced side there flowed forth blood and water, John xix. 34; 1 John v. 6.

In the purification of lepers, two birds were employed, the one of which was killed over the pure water of a spring, and the other after being dipt in the blood of the slain bird, was set at liberty. The former rite represented the death of Christ, and the latter, like the dismissal of the scape-goat, signified the removal of guilt by its means, or the effect of the atonement in taking away sin. Both these could not have been signified by a single bird; and hence, two were employed to complete the figure. The living bird was to be dipped in the blood of the one that was slain, to signify the connection between the

atonement, and the removal of guilt. The application of blood alone, was sufficient to procure the release of the living bird, and this is significant of the efficacy of the atonement in removing legal defilement. But to mark the connection between legal and moral purification, the blood when sprinkled on the unclean was mingled with water. It is as procuring the honourable bestowment of the Spirit's influence, that the blood of Christ is followed by moral purification. And to signify the application of its sacrificial and indirect moral virtue, the blood thus mingled with water was to be sprinkled seven times on the person to be purified; and after this, he was to wash his clothes and his body in water. And having observed some other rites of cleansing, he was so far purified, as to be admissible to the camp, but not to the tabernacle. At the end of seven days after, having observed several rites of cleansing, he was on the eighth day to offer certain sacrifices; and the priest was to apply the blood of his trespassoffering to the tip of his right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of his right foot. This last ceremony signified, that the whole man was defiled, and required to be cleansed.

But the purifying oil was also to be employed, as the blood had been, and some of it poured on the head of the unclean, and by these rites was the purification completed. These several acts of cleansing were required; because the thing signified could not be adequately exhibited by one. The blood was the symbol of atonement and of pardon,-the water signified that legal purification which is thus ob