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ajid the sacrifice for sin . As the two former were common to the patriarchs , and as in fact , they were both diank-offerings to God , we shall therefore make no further inquiry about them . There were other offerings enjoined
by Moses , such as those of corn , meal , cakes , fruits , wiae , &c . The methods of devoting or sacrificing animals also differed , as in the case of two sparrows and the scape-goat , Levit . chap . xiv . and chap . xvi . ; all
these may be explained on the same principles . We come now to that important , hallowed and much-disputedi kind pf sacrifice , the sin-offering ; and here , possibly , good Sir , you aiid several of your readers may conscientiously differ in opinion from
me ; but I trust we shall agree to differ under the correction of Christian charity . I m . ay err , so may you , but if we cannot help it , I hope God will not tyy the sia of ignorance to our charge- JLet us then , not with fear
and trembling , but with the Bible before us , and with upright hearts , having but ojje view , the discovery of truth , come to the inquiry . The first account we have of this kind of
sacrifice is to be found in Exodus , chap , xxix ,, from the beginning to the « l 4 th verse inclusive , and Levit . tiii . Moses officiated on the
occasion . —It was a solemn consecration of Avon and his sops to the priest ' s £ ® ce , « a sin-offering , " ver . 14 . ihere is no proof that all the . se ceremonies were repeated at the consecration of future priests . See Numbers ,
sx . xxv . and xxvi ., where you have an account of the induction of Aaron ' s VkT ° t into the Wgh-priest ' s office , while God was delivering the law to Moses on mount Sinai . Aaron and tli «
People were framing and worshipping «« golden calf , and insulting the Holy i ? w Israel to h * face b Y lheir vite 2 l ? itseei « s > therefore , that « a * £ « & " as wel 1 as " burnt-2 H , the Lord > a swcet sa - Jp ' ^ " xx " 18 ' * very suits and s 1 gnlfi € ant on this occasion . J * what did it . represent ? Cer-^ "ynot the transfer of moral guilt Po ^ hi ana ^ ent anilnal \ * at was im-% r"l * 1 if Aaron had committed idolit an , !! f ^* % * e criirfe . But * few £ ?* tJlat th ™ act of Mo ^ * 3 n ° l . ^ ° * » ^ pressed the
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devotion of the penitent sinner . Her ^ then , we have a n ^ w idea connected with a sacrifice , a refinement on th ^ original intention of burnt-offerings , " Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock of the 1
sin-offering . ; Levit , viii . 14 . Wa « this expressive of a sense of demerit ? Did it speak thus ? , " We are the penitent transgressors , this is the victim , this creature is to die , and we deserve death ; for like Adam we have re ^
belled against thee , we have broken thy covenant . " " It is a gin-offering , " of course it is the offering of a sinner to a holy God . like all the rest of the sacrifices , this was symbolical , it expressed the case and heart of th f worshipper and it was accepted .
In this chapter Exod . xxix . you have the first mention of atonement , ver . 36 , " Thou shaJt offer every day a bullock for a sin-offering for atonement ; " so that the siivoffering waa
expressive of atonement or reconciliation . ( There will be no dispute , I believe , about the meaning of thi * word , especially as it is explained in the New Testament , but the question is , in what sense is it called reconT
ciliation ?) To say that God is not reconciled to a wicked and impenitent njan , and that such an one is an enemy to God , is natural . But let such a man repent and forsake his sins , and prove that he does so by the fruits of his faith , ( for a man must first believe
that God is , and that he rewards them that seek him , before he can be disposed to serve him ) then , being no longer the enemy of his merciful Creator , and seeking his forgiveness and favour in the way of his appoints ment , let that appointment be what
it may , reconciled to God , he seeks and he ' receives the atonement . It is the pledge of his reconciliation and of God ' s forgiveness . See , Rom . v . 10 , 11 , It is , however , to be observed , that though the institute of sin-offerings and atonement in the-Old
Testament are , by accommodation very properly applied to the New-Testament doctrines of reconciliation , yet we have not the least evidence , that the ancient Israelites formed any idea
that the sacrifices or atonements which they offered to God were typical of the death of Christ ; nor jiidi any of the enlightened of them conceive that the hload of their sacrifice * could cleanse away the guilt of their
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TVte D < M $ rin 4 of Common Sense with regard to Sacrifices . Letter IL 155
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1815, page 155, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1758/page/27/
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