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Remarks on t ) r . Magee ' s Arguments to prove the Passover to be a Sacrifice . 4 G 9
quite different and inconsistent ideas , " and then bring forward ( as he is here rep resented as doing ) a passage of Scripture , without explanation or comment , where the passover is " directly termed" a sacrifice ? Is the Doctor to be considered as an idiot ? Yes , most certainly , if we form our
judgment from the representation given of him by Dr . Magee . Notwithstanding all that Dr . Magee has said to the contrary , Dr . Priestley was certainly correct in saying ; that " the passover was not a sacrifice , and that these two ( namely ,-sacrifice and the-paschal lamb ) are quite different and inconsistent ideas . " In
the institution * of the passover , ( and every circumstance belonging to that institution is minutely detailed by Moses , ) there is not any thing of the nature of sacrifice connected with it . It was not a sacrifice but a feast , as it is expressly and repeatedly called , and as such it was observed in all
their generations . The command to all the congregation of Israel was , that they should take a lamb every man according to the house of their fathers ; a lamb for a house ; that they should kill it in the evening , aad that they should eat the flesh in that night , roast with fire arid unleavened bread . And Moses concludes with
saying , f "This day shall be unto you for a memorial j and ye shall keep it dL feast to the Lord throughout your generations ; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever . " A learned writer % gives the following account of the nature of sacrifices : " Whatever is offered in a
solemn mariner immediately to God , so that a part of it , or the whole of it , is consumed , is what is meant by the word sacrifice , whether it be upon an altar , or what is used instead of an altar ; whether it be by fire , or in any
other manner , is not material ; but there must be a oift or oblation of it ; whatever the subject or matter of it may be , it must be offered to God , aria there must be a consumption of it . " But in the celebration of the passover , as instituted by Moses , none of these circumstances occur ; there was no oblation . The lamb was not * Exod . xii . f Verse 14 . t Sykes on Sacrifices , p . 4 . ^ OjL . XIV- 3 It
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offered to God , but eaten by the children of Israel . It was not consumed . No priest was employed to kijl the lamb and present it to God . Tjhere was no altar upon which it was laid ; no confession of sin over it , or crime alleged for which it was to make an atonement . How then could it possibly be a sacrifice ?
Dr . Magee may swell his pages with numerous quotations from Jewish and Christian writers to prove that they considered the passover as a sacrifice , and speak of it as such \ but we have evidence that will outweigh them all , ( the evidence of the most
enlightened Jews , that of our Lord and his disciples , and of the Jews in their time ;) to prove that they neither considered the passover to be a sacrifice , nor did they observe it as such . The historian tells us ,, that when the day of unleavened bread came that the passover must be killed , the
disciples of Jesus asked him where they should prepare to eat if . What was the answer ? Was it , provide a lamb , carry it to the Temple that the priest may present it to the Lord , slay the victim aud offer it on the altar , a burnt-offering to the Lord ? Such it must have been had the passover been a sacrifice ; but instead of this he
directs them to go into the city , and to follow a man bearing a pitcher of water , and to say to the master of . the house into which he entered , « ' the Master saith , Where is the guestchamber , where I may ( nut sacrifice but where I may , ) eat the passover
with my disciples ? " They did so , and the man shewed them a large upper room , where they made ready the passover , and Jesus and his disciples sat down and ate it together . " With desire have I desired ( said he to his disciples ) to eat this passover with you before I suffer . "
Had the passover been a solemn sacrifice to God , this conduct of our Lord and his disciples would have beea a profanation of that sacred ordinance , and a gross violation of the law of Moses , by converting a solemn
sacrifice into a ftjast , and thus robbing God of his offerings . Had the Jews in their days considered it as a sacrifice to God , in vain would Jesus have made the appeal to them , 4 < Which of you convinceth me of sin ? " This
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1819, page 469, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1775/page/9/
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