Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

the table. (John xiii. 23.) This posture, according to the | herbs, dipping the bread into the charoseth, or sauce. To Talmudical writers, was an emblem of that rest and freedom this practice the evangelists Matthew (xxvi. 21-25.) and which God had granted to the children of Israel by bringing Mark (xiv. 18-21.) manifestly allude; and into this sauce them out of Egypt. This custom of reclining at table, over our Saviour is supposed to have dipped the sop which he one another's bosom, was a sign of equality and strict union gave to Judas. (John xiii. 26.) among the guests.1

Dr. Lightfoot has collected from the Talmud a variety of passages relative to the Jewish mode of celebrating the passover; from which we have abridged the following particulars, as they are calculated materially to illustrate the evangelical history of our Lord's last passover, recorded in Matt. xxvi. Mark xiv. Luke xxii. and John xiii.

(1.) The guests being placed around the table, they mingled a cup of wine with water, over which the master of the family (or, if two or more families were united, a person deputed for the purpose) gave thanks, and then drank it off. The thanksgiving for the wine was to this effect," Blessed be thou, O Lord, who hast created the fruit of the vine;" and for the day, as follows-" Blessed be thou for this good day, and for this holy convocation, which thou hast given us for joy and rejoicing! Blessed be thou, O Lord, who hast sanctified Israel and the times!" Of these cups of wine they drank four in the course of the ordinance.

(2.) They then washed their hands, after which the table was furnished with the paschal lamb, roasted whole, with bitter herbs, and with two cakes of unleavened bread, together with the remains of the peace-offerings sacrificed on the preceding day, and the charoseth, or thick sauce, above mentioned.

(3.) The officiator, or person presiding, then took a small piece of salad, and having blessed God for creating the fruit of the ground, he ate it, as also did the other guests: after which all the dishes were removed from the table, that the children might inquire and be instructed in the nature of the feast. (Exod. xii. 25, 26.) The text on which they generally discoursed was Deut. xxvi. 5-11. In like manner our Saviour makes use of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, to declare the great mercy of God in our redemption; for it shows forth the Lord's death till he come to judge the world. The "continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits we receive thereby," which has been observed ever since the time of the apostles, is a permanent and irrefragable argument for the reality of that full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world," which was made by Jesus Christ "by his one oblation of himself" upon the cross; in opposition to the opinion of those who deny the divinity of our Saviour, and the vicarious nature of his death.

(4.) Then replacing the supper, they explained the import of the bitter herbs and paschal lamb; and over the second cup of wine repeated the hundred and thirteenth and hundred and fourteenth psalms, with an eucharistic prayer.

(5.) The hands were again washed, accompanied by an ejaculatory prayer; after which the master of the house proceeded to break and bless a cake of the unleavened bread, which he distributed among the guests, reserving half of the cake beneath a napkin, if necessary, for the aphicomen, or last morsel; for the rule was, to conclude with eating a small piece of the paschal lamb, or, after the destruction of the temple, of unleavened bread. In like manner our Lord, upon instituting the sacrament of the eucharist, which was prefigured by the passover, took bread; and having blessed or given thanks to God, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Tuke, eat, this is [that is, signifies] my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. (Matt. xxvi. 26. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24.) In the communion service of the Anglican church, the spirit and design both of the type and antitype are most expressively condensed into one point of view in the following address to the communicant:-"TAKE and EAT this in REMEMBRANCE that Christ died for THEE, and feed upon him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving."

(6.) They then ate the rest of the cake with the bitter

1 This custom, Beausobre well observes, will explain several passages of Scripture, particularly those in which mention is made of Abraham's bosom (Luke xvi. 22.), and of the Son's being in the bosom of the Father. (John i. 18. compared with Phil. ii. 6. and John xiii. 23.)

In this part of the paschal ceremony, among the modern Jews, after the master of the house has reserved the portion for the aphicomen, the bone of the lamb and the egg are taken off the dish, and all at table lay hold of the dish and say,-"Lo! this is [or signifies] the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt; let all those who are hungry eat thereof; and all who are necessitous, come, and celebrate the Passover." Form of Prayers for the Festivals of Passover and Pentecost, according to the custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, translated from the Hebrew by David Levi, p. 20.

(7.) Next they ate the flesh of the peace-offerings which had been sacrificed on the fourteenth day, and then the flesh of the paschal lamb, which was followed by returning thanks to God, and a second washing of hands.

(8.) A third cup of wine was then filled, over which they blessed God, or said grace after meat (whence it was called the cup of blessing), and drank it off. To this circumstance St. Paul particularly alludes when he says,―The cur of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? (1 Cor. x. 16.) It was also at this part of the paschal supper that our Lord took the cup, saying, This is the NEW TESTAMENT (rather covenant) IN MY BLOOD, which is shed for you, and for many, for the REMISSION OF SINS. (Luke xxii. 20. Matt. xxvi. 27.) The cup here is put for wine; and covenant is put for the token or sign of the covenant. The wine, as representing Christ's blood, answers to the blood of the passover, which typified it; and the remission of sins here, answers to the passing over there, and preserving from death.3

(9.) Lastly, a fourth cup of wine was filled, called the cup of the hallel: over it they completed, either by singing or recitation, the great hallel, or hymn of praise, consisting of psalms cxv. to cxviii. inclusive, with a prayer, and so concluded. In like manner our Lord and his disciples, when they had sung a hymn, departed to the Mount of Olives. (Matt. xxvi. 30. Mark xiv. 26.)

3. With regard to the mystical signification of the passover, we know generally from St. Paul (1 Cor. v. 7.), who calls Jesus Christ our passover, that this Jewish sacrament had a typical reference to him: but concerning the points of resemblance between the type and anti-type, learned men are not agreed. Godwin has enumerated thirteen points of coincidence; Dr. Lightfoot, seventeen; and Keach, nineteen. The most judicious arrangement of this subject which we have seen is that of Herman Witsius, who has treated it under four general heads, viz. the person of Christ,-the sufferings he bore for us, the fruits of those sufferings,and the manner in which we are made partakers of them. As, however, many of the analogies which Witsius has traced between the passover and the death of Christ are very fanciful, his arrangement only has been adopted in the following observations:

(1.) THE PERSON OF CHRIST WAS TYPIFIED BY THE PASCHAL LAMB.

"The animal sacrifice at the passover was to be a lamb without blemish. (Exod. xii. 5.) Christ is styled the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John i. 29. 36.); a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Pet. i. 19. See Isa. liii. 7.) The paschal lamb was to be one of the flock. Christ the Word who was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John i. 14.), was taken from the midst of the people, being in all things made like unto his brethren." (Heb. ii. 17.)9

(2.) THE SUFFERINGS AND DEATH OF CHRIST WERE ALSO TYPIFIED BY THE PASCHAL LAMB IN VARIOUS PARTICULARS. "The sacrifice of the passover differed from other sacri

3 Clarke on the Eucharist, p. 39. On this part of the institution of the

Lord's supper, Dr. Lightfoot has the following admirable remarks:-"This is my blood of the New Testament. Not only the seal of the covenant, The end of the Mosaic economy, but the sanction of the new covenant. and the confirming of a new one. The confirmation of the old covenant was by the blood of bulls and of goats (Exod. xxiv. Heb. ix.), because blood was still to be shed: the confirmation of the new was by a cup of wine; because under the new covenant there is no further shedding of blood. As it is here said of the cup, This cup is the New Testament in my blood; so it might be said of the cup of blood. (Exod. xxiv.) That cup was the Old Testament in the blood of Christ there all the articles of that covenant being read over, Moses sprinkled all the people with blood, and said, This is the blood of the covenant which God hath made with you; and thus that old covenant, or testimony, was confirmed. In like manner, Christ, having published all the articles of the new covenant, he takes the cup of wine, and gives them to drink, and saith, This is the New Testa ment in my blood, and thus the new covenant was established."-(Works, vol. ii. p. 260.) Hor. Heb. on Matt. xxvi. 27.

Lightfoot's Temple Service, c. xiii. (Works, vol. i. pp. 959-967.) See also Mr. Ainsworth's learned and interesting notes on Exod. xii. in his Annotations on the Pentateuch.

Godwin's Moses and Aaron, pp. 114, 115.
Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. pp. 1008, 1009.

Keach's Key to Scripture Metaphors, pp. 979, 980. 2d edit. See also M'Ewen on the Types, pp. 148-152.

Witsius, de Economia Foederum, lib. iv. c. 9. $$ 35-58. or vol. ii. pp. 275-282. of the English translation. Witsius's View of the Mystical Import of the Passover has been abridged by Dr. Jennings. Jewish Antiq. book iii. ch. iv. pp. 472-477.

Chevallier's Hulsean Lectures, on the Historical Types of the Old Testament, p. 285.

fices, in being a public act of the whole people: it was to be slain by the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.' (Exod. xii. 6.) The chief priests, and the rulers, and the people, were consenting to the death of Jesus. (Luke xxiii. 13.) The blood of the passover was, at its first institution, o be sprinkled upon the lintel, and the two side-posts (Exod. xii. 7. 22.), for the protection of the people; and in the subsequent celebration of the paschal sacrifice, the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the hand of the Levites.' (2 Chron. xxx. 16. xxxv. 11.) It is by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, that our consciences are purged (Heb. ix. 14.), and protection and salvation obtained. (Heb. xii. 24. 1 Pet. i. 2.) The passover was to be eaten by the Israelites, in the character of travellers, with their loins girded, their shoes upon their feet, and their staff in their hand. (Exod. xii. 11.) They, for whom Christ is sacrificed, are compared to strangers and pilgrims (1 Pet. ii. 11.), and are commanded to stand, having their loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. (Eph. vi. 15.) The Israelites were to eat the passover in haste. (Exod. xii. 11.) We are to give diligence to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. i. 10.); and to flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. (Heb. vi. 18.) The passover was to be sacrificed only in the tabernacle, and afterwards only in the temple at Jerusalem. (Deut. xvi. 5, 6.) Neither could it be that Christ should perish out of Jerusalem. (Luke xiii. 33.) The month, and day of the month, on which the passover was to be sacrificed by the Israelites, is laid down with accuracy. And on the very day on which the passover ought to be slain (Luke xxii. 7. Ev » EAEI Over To Tax), and on which Christ celebrated the paschal feast with his disciples, he endured his agony and bloody sweat; and he suffered death upon the cross, on the day when, at least the scribes and Pharisees, and some of the principal men among the Jews, did eat the passover.' (John xviii. 28.) Further, not a bone of the paschal victim was to be broken, (Exod. xii. 46.)-a typical circumstance, which the evangelist specially notices as fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. (John xix. 32-36.)

[ocr errors]

"Another peculiarity in the paschal offering is the time of the day at which it was appointed to be slain. The whole assembly of the congregation shall kill it in the evening,' (Exod. xii. 6.); or, as the expression is rendered in the margin, between the two evenings.-Now at the very time appointed for the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, between the two evenings, Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. The scene of suffering began at the third hour of the day. (Mark xv. 25.) And at the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. (Matt. xxvii. 45. Mark xv. 33. Luke xxiii. 44.) And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. (Matt. xxvii. 46. 50. Mark xv. 34. 37.)"ï

(3.) SEVERAL OF THE FRUITS OF CHRIST'S DEATH WERE REMARKABLY TYPIFIED BY THE SACRIFICE OF THE PASCHAL LAMB.

Such are "protection and salvation by his blood, of which the sprinkling of the door-posts with the blood of the lamb, and the safety which the Israelites by that means enjoyed from the plague that spread through all the families of the Egyptians, was a designed and illustrious emblem. In allusion to this type, the blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling. (1 Pet. i. 2. Heb. xii. 21.) Immediately upon the Israelites eating the first passover, they were delivered from their Egyptian slavery, and restored to full liberty, of which they had been deprived for many years; and such is the fruit of the death of Christ, in a spiritual and much nobler sense, to all that believe in him; for he hath thereby obtained eternal redemption for us," and "brought us into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Heb. ix. 12. Rom. viii. 21.)2

66

(4.) THE MANNER IN WHICH WE ARE TO BE MADE PARTAKERS OF THE BLESSED FRUITS OF THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST, WERE ALSO REPRESENTED BY LIVELY EMBLEMS IN THE PASS

OVER.

"The paschal lamb was ordered to be slain, and his blood was directed to be sprinkled upon the lintel and the doorposts of each dwelling occupied by God's chosen people; that, when the angel smote the Egyptians, he might pass over the houses of the Israelites and leave them secure from danger in a similar manner, by the blood of Christ alone, 1 Chevallier's Lectures, pp. 287-289.

> Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book iij. ch. iv. pp. 474, 475.

shed for many for the remission of sins, can the impending wrath of heaven be averted from sinful man. Before the blood of our Lord was sprinkled upon his church, we stood (as it were) without, exposed, like the Egyptians, to the vengeance of a justly incensed God: but now his precious blood-shedding, like the sprinkled blood of the paschal lamb, is our safety and defence, so that the anger of Jehovah may pass over us. The death of the paschal lamb was for the deliverance of the Levitical church; yet, if any negligent or unbelieving Israelite availed not himself of the proffered refuge, he perished undistinguished with the Egyptians: thus likewise the death of the Lamb of God was for the deliverance of the Christian church; but, if any one claims to be a Christian in name, while yet he renounces the doctrine of pardon and acceptance through the sprinkled blood of the Messiah, he then places himself without the doors of the church, and will be strictly judged according to his works by a law which pronounces that man accursed who observes not with undeviating punctuality all the commandments which it has enjoined. (Gal. iii. 10.) From the creation to the day of judgment, there have been, and are, and can be, no more than two covenants; that of works, and that of grace. Under the one or the other of these compacts, every man must arrange himself."3

Lastly, the passover was to be eaten with unleavened bread: nor is it in vain that leaven is so often and so expressly forbidden to those who are invited to eat of the lamb; for in Scripture leaven is the symbol of corruption, and especially of hypocrisy. Hence, St. Paul, speaking of Christ the true paschal lamb, exhorts Christians to keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (2 Cor. v. 7, 8.)1 On the second day of the festival (the sixteenth of the month Nisan) was offered the sheaf of the first-fruits of the barley harvest, which was usually ripe at this season, as a grateful acknowledgment of the goodness of God, in bestowing upon them both the former and the latter rains (Jer. v. 21.), and also of his right to confer or withhold them as he pleases. It was accompanied with a particular sacrifice, the circumstances of which are detailed in Lev. xxiii. 9-14.

V. The second of the three great Jewish festivals was the FEAST OF PENTECOST, which is called by various names in the Sacred Writings; as the feast of weeks (Exod. xxxiv. 22. Deut. xvi. 10. 16.5, because it was celebrated seven weeks or a week of weeks after the first day of unleavened bread; the feast of harvest (Exod. xxiii. 16.), and also the day of first-fruits (Num. xviii. 26.), because on this day the Jews offered thanksgivings to God for the bounties of harvest, and presented to him the first-fruits of the wheat harvest, in bread baked of the new corn. (Exod. xxiii. 16. Lev. xxiii. 14-21. Num. xxviii. 26-31.) The form of thanksgiving for this occasion is given in Deut. xxvi. 5-10. On this day also was commemorated the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. The Greek word Pentecost, ПIETOT (Acts ii. 1. xx. 16.), is derived from the circumstance of its being kept on the fiftieth day after the first day of unleavened bread. The number of Jews assembled at Jerusalem on this joyous occasion was very great. This festival had a typical reference to the miraculous effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and first-fruits of the Christian church on the day of Pentecost (corresponding with our Whit-Sunday), on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

VI. The FEAST OF TABERNACLES, like the preceding festival, continued for a week. It was instituted to commemorate the dwelling of the Israelites in tents while they wandered in the desert. (Lev. xxiii. 34. 43.) Hence it is called by St. John the feast of tents (anya, John vii. 2.)? It is likewise termed the feast of ingatherings. (Exod. xxiii. 16. xxxiv. 22.) Further, the design of this feast was, to return thanks to God for the fruits of the vine, as well as of other trees, which were gathered about this time, and also to implore his blessing upon those of the ensuing year. The following were the principal ceremonies observed in the celebration of this feast:

3 Faber's Horæ Mosaicæ, vol. ii, p. 273.

4 Witsius on the Covenants, book vi. ch. ix. § 54. vol. ii. p. 280. s Acts ii. 9-11. Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. ii. c. 3. §1.

Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 321-323. Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. i. p. 179. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. p. 960. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 184. Relandi Antiq. Hebr. p. 472. Alber, Inst. Herm. Vet. Test. tom. i. pp. 172, 173.

A similar appellation is given by Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xi. c 5. §5. lib. viii. c. 4. § 1.

1. During the whole of this solemnity they were obliged to dwell in tents, which anciently were pitched on the flat terrace-like roofs of their houses. (Neh. viii. 16.)

2. Besides the ordinary daily sacrifices, there were several extraordinary ones offered on this occasion, which are detailed in Num. xxix.

66

4. One of the most remarkable ceremonies performed at this feast in the later period of the Jewish polity, was the libation or pouring out of water, drawn from the fountain or pool of Siloam, upon the altar. As, according to the Jews themselves, this water was an emblem of the HOLY SPIRIT, Jesus Christ applied the ceremony and the intention of it to nimself when he "cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." (John vii. 37. 39.)

the temple with more than usual solemnity. (Num. xxix. 1. Lev. xxiii. 24.). On this festival they abstained from all labour (Lev. xxiii. 25.), and offered particular sacrifices to God, which are described in Num. xxix. 1-6.

2. The other feast alluded to was the FAST or FEAST OF EXPIATION, or DAY OF ATONEMENT; which day the Jews 3. During the continuance of this feast, they carried in observed as a most strict fast, abstaining from all servile their hands branches of palm trees, olives, citrons, myrtles, work, taking no food, and afflicting their souls. (Lev. xxiii. 27 and willows (Lev. xxiii. 40. Neh. viii. 15. 2 Macc. x. 7.);1-30.) Of all the sacrifices ordained by the Mosaic law, the singing Hosanna, save I beseech thee (Psal. cxviii. 25.), in sacrifice of the atonement was the most solemn and importwhich words they prayed for the coming of the Messiah. ant: it was offered on the tenth day of the month Tisri, by These branches also bore the name of Hosanna, as well as the high-priest alone, for the sins of the whole nation. all the days of the feast. In the same manner was Jesus "On this day only, in the course of the year, was the highChrist conducted into Jerusalem by the believing Jews, who, priest permitted to enter the sanctuary, and not even then considering him to be the promised Messiah, expressed their without due preparation, under pain of death; all others boundless joy at finding in him the accomplishment of those being excluded from the tabernacle during the whole cerepetitions, which they had so often offered to God for his mony. (Lev. xvi. 2. 17.) Previously to his entrance he was coming, at the feast of tabernacles. (Matt. xxi. 8, 9.) Dur- to wash himself in water, and to put on the holy linen garing its continuance, they walked in procession round the ments, with the mitre; and to bring a young bullock into the altar with the above-mentioned branches in their hands, amid outer sanctuary, and present it before the Lord to be a sinthe sound of trumpets, singing Hosanna; and on the last or offering for himself and his household, including the priests seventh day of the feast, they compassed the altar seven and Levites, and a ram also for a burnt-offering. (xvi. 3, 4.) times. This was called the Great Hosanna. To this last Next, he was to take two young goats, and present them ceremony St. John probably alludes in Rev. vii. 9, 10., where before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle, to be a sinhe describes the saints as standing before the throne, clothed offering for the whole congregation of Israel, and a ram also with white robes, and palms in their hands; and saying, Sal- for a burnt-offering. (xvi. 5.) He was then to cast lots upon vation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the the two goats, which of them should be sacrificed as a sinLamb." offering to the Lord, and which should be let go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. After this, he was first to sacrifice the bullock as a sin-offering for himself and his household, and to take some of the blood into the inner sanctuary, bearing in his hand a censer with incense burning, kindled at the sacred fire on the altar, and to sprinkle the blood with his finger upon the mercy-seat, and before it, seven times, to purify it from the pollution it might be supposed to have contracted from his sins and transgressions during the preceding year. He was then to sacrifice the allotted goat for the sins of the whole nation, and to enter the inner sanctuary a second time, and to sprinkle it with blood as before, to purify it from the pollution of the people's sins and transgressions of the foregoing year. After which, he was to purify, in like manner, the tabernacle and the altar. He was next to bring the live goat, and lay both his hands upon its head, and confess over him all the iniquities, transgressions, and sins of the children of Israel, putting them upon the head of the goat, and then to send him away by the hand of a fit person into the wilderness, to bear away upon him all their iniquities to a land of separation, where they should be remembered no more. After this atonement he was to put off his linen garments, and leave them in the sanctuary, and to wash himself again in water, and put on his usual garments; and then to offer burnt-offerings for himself and for the people, at the evening sacrifice. (Lev. xvi. 3-28.) The whole of this process seems to be typical or prefigurative of the grand atonement to be made for the sins of the whole world by Jesus Christ, the high-priest of our profession (Heb. iii. 1.), and a remarkable analogy thereto may be traced in the course of our Lord's ministry. He began it with perness. (Matt. iii. 13-15.) Immediately after his baptism, he was led, by the impulse of the HOLY SPIRIT, into the wilderness, as the true scape-goat, who bore away our infirmities, and carried off our diseases. (Isa. liii. 4-6. Matt. viii. 17.) Immediately before his crucifixion, he was afflicted, and his soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death, when he was to be made a sin-offering like the allotted goat (Psal. xl. 12. Isa. liii. 7. Matt. xxvi. 38. 2 Cor. v. 21. Heb. i. 3.); and his sweat, as great drops of blood, falling to the ground, corresponded to the sprinkling of the mercy-seat (Luke xxii. 44.); and when, to prepare for the sacrifice of himself, he consecrated himself in prayer to God (John xvii. 1-5. Matt. xxvi. 39-46.); and then prayed for his household, his apostles, and disciples (John xvii. 6-9.), and for all future believers on him by their preaching. (John xvii. 20-26.) He put off his garments at his crucifixion, when he became the sin-offering (Psal. xxii. 18. John xix. 23, 24.); and, as our spiritual highpriest, entered once for all into the most holy place, heaven, to make intercession with God for all his faithful followers. (Heb. vii. 24-28. ix. 7-15.) Who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification." (Rom. iv. 25.)

On the last day, that great day of the feast (John vii. 37.), the Jews fetched water from that fountain in a golden pitcher, which they brought through the water-gate into the temple, with great rejoicing. The officiating priest poured it, mixed with wine, upon the morning sacrifice, as it lay on the altar. The Jews seem to have adopted this custom (for it is not ordained in the law of Moses) as an emblem of future blessings, in allusion to this passage of Isaiah (xii. 3.), With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation: expressions that can hardly be understood of any benefits afforded by the Mosaic dispensation. Water was offered to God this day, partly in reference to the water which flowed from the rock in the wilderness (1 Cor. x. 4.), but chiefly to solicit the blessing of rain on the approaching seed-time.3

No festival was celebrated with greater rejoicing than this, which Josephus calls "a most holy and most eminent feast."4 Dancing, music, and feasting were the accompaniments of this festival, together with such brilliant illuminations as lighted the whole city of Jerusalem. These rejoicings are supposed to have taken place in the court of the women, in order that they might be partakers of the general hilarity. In every seventh year the law of Moses was also read in public, in the presence of all the people. (Deut. xxxi. 10-sonal purification at his baptism, to fulfil all legal righteous12. Neh. viii. 18.)

5

VII. To the three grand annual festivals above described, Moses added two others, which were celebrated with great solemnity, though the presence of every male Israelite was not absolutely required.

1. The first of these was the FEAST OF TRUMPETS, and was held on the first and second days of the month Tisri, which was the commencement of the civil year of the Hebrews: this feast derived its name from the blowing of trumpets in

Lamy adds, that the Jews tied these branches with gold and silver strings, or with ribands, and did not lay them aside the whole day; carry. ing them into their synagogues, and keeping them by them while they were at their prayers. App. Bib. vol. i. p. 183.

The sense of the Jews is in this matter plainly shown by the following passage of the Jerusalem Talmud: "Why is it called the place or house of drawing? because from thence they draw the Holy Spirit: as it is written, And ye shall draw water with joy from the wells of Salvation." Wolfi Cure Philol. in N. T. on John vii. 37. 39. Lowth's Isaiah. vol. ii. p. 117. vii. 37.

Bp. Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 117. Doyly's and Mant's Bible, on John Ant. Jud. lib. viii. c. 4. § 1. The greatness of these rejoicings, and their happening at the time of vintage, led Tacitus erroneously to suppose that the Jews were accustomed to sacrifice to Bacchus. Tacit. Hist. lib.

v. c. 5. (tom. iii. p. 268. edit. Bipont.)

Schulzii Archæol. Heb. pp. 323-326. Relandi Antiq. Heb. p. 477. Ikenii Antiq. Heb. pp. 134, 136. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. p. 964. vol. ii. pp. 641-643. Leusden's Philologus Hebræo-Mixtus, p. 295. Beausobre's Introd. to the New Test. (Bp. Watson's Tracts, vol. iii. pp. 224, 225.) Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 13.

When the tabernacle was to be removed, and set up again, the inner sanctuary might safely be entered, but not at other times.

Dr. Hales's Analysis, vol. ii. book i. pp. 274. 276. See also Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, book iii. ch. vii. Alber, Inst. Herm. Vet. Test. tom. i. pp. 174-176. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. pp. 961, 962. Relandi, Antiq. Hebr.

VIII. Besides the annual festivals above described, the Jews in later times introduced several fast and feast days in addition to those instituted by Moses. The two principal festivals of this kind were the Feast of Purim, and that of the Dedication of the Second Temple.

by the Jews in later ages, though not appointed by Moses. Such are the fast of the fourth month, on account of the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldæans (Jer. lii. 6, 7.); the fast of the fifth month, on account of their burning the temple and city (2 Kings xxv. 8.); and that of the seventh month, on account of the murder of Gedaliah (2 Kings xxv. 25.); and the fast of the tenth month, when the Babylonian army comare enumerated together in Zech. viii. 19.; and to them we may, perhaps, add the xylophoria, or feast of wood-offering, when the people brought and offered large quantities of wood for the use of the altar: it is supposed to have been celebrated in the time of Nehemiah (x. 34. xiii. 31.), in whose praises, on this occasion, the Jews largely expatiated, and related several wonderful tales concerning him and the fire lighted upon the altar. (2 Macc. i. 18-22. Nine days were appropriated to this festival, viz. The first of Nisan, the 20th of Tammuz, the 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th, and 20th of Ab, the 20th of Elul, and the 1st of Tebeth.4

1. The FEAST OF PURIM, or of Lots, as the word signifies, is celebrated on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar (or of Ve-Adar if it be an intercalary year), in com-menced the siege of Jerusalem. (Jer. lii. 4.) All these fasts memoration of the providential deliverance of the Jews from the cruel machinations of Haman, who had procured an edict from Artaxerxes to extirpate them. (Esth. iii.-ix.) On this occasion the entire book of Esther is read in the synagogues of the modern Jews, not out of a printed copy, but from a roll which generally contains this book alone. All Jews, of both sexes, and of every age, who are able to attend, are required to come to this feast and to join in the reading, for the better preservation of the memory of this important fact. When the roll is unfolded, the chazan or reader says, "Blessed be God, the King of the world, who hath sanctified us by his precepts, and commanded us to read the Megillah! Blessed be God, who in those days worked miracles for our fathers!" As often as the name of Haman occurs, the whole congregation clap their hands, stamp with their feet, and exclaim, "Let his name be blotted out! May the memory of the wicked rot!" The children at the same time hiss, and strike loudly on the forms with little wooden hammers made for the pur-years. pose. When the reader comes to the seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters, where the names of Haman's ten sons occur, he pronounces them with great rapidity, and in one breath, to intimate that they were all hanged, and expired in the same moment. In most manuscripts and editions of the book of Esther, the ten names contained in the chapters just mentioned are written under each other in ten lines, no other word being connected with them, in order to exhibit the manner in which they were hanged, viz. on a pole fifty cubits, that is, seventy-five feet high; each of the brothers being immediately suspended, the one under the cther, in one perpendicular line.

When the chazan has finished the reading, the whole congregation exclaim "Cursed be Haman!-Blessed be Mordecai!-Cursed be Zeresh!-Blessed be Esther!-Cursed be all idolaters!-Blessed be all the Israelites !-And blessed likewise be 'Harbonah, at whose instance Haman was hanged!" In order to heighten the general joy on this festival, Buxtorf relates that some Jews wore party-coloured garments, and young foxes' tails in their hats, and ran about the synagogue exciting the congregation to laughter! Further, to excite and increase mirth, the men and women exchange apparel; this, though positively forbidden by the law, they consider innocent, and allowable on this festive occasion, which is a season of peculiar gayety. Alms are given to the poor; relations and friends send presents to each other; and all furnish their tables with every luxury they can command. These two days are the bacchanalia of the modern Jews; who think it no sin to indulge themselves largely in their cups, some of them indeed to intoxication, in memory of Esther's banquet of wine; at which she succeeded in defeating the sanguinary designs of Haman.'

2. The FEAST OF DEDICATION (mentioned in John x. 22.) was instituted by Judas Maccabæus, in imitation of those by Solomon and Ezra, as a grateful memorial of the cleansing of the second temple and altar, after they had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. (1 Macc. iv. 52-59.) It commenced on the twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, corresponding with our December, and lasted eight days. This festival was also called the feast of lights, because the Jews illuminated their houses in testimony of their joy and gladness on this very important occasion. The whole of this feast was spent in singing hymns, offering sacrifices, and every kind of diversion: it was celebrated with much solemnity in the time of Josephus.

Besides these two festivals, we find several others incidentally mentioned in the Old Testament, as being observed

p. 491. et seq. Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 328-334. The typical reference of the sacrifice offered on this day is discussed at considerable length by Witsius, de Econ. Fœd. lib. iv. c. 6. or vol. ii. pp. 213-231. of the English translation. On the manner in which this fact is observed by the modern Jews, see Allen's Modern Judaism, pp. 391-399.

1 Buxtorf de Synagog. Jud. cap. 29. Iken. Antiq. Hebr. pp. 336-338. Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 334, 335. Allen's Modern Judaism, p. 405. Dr. Clarke's Commentary on Esther.

2 Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xii. c. 7. §§ 6, 7.

3 Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 335, 336. Lamy, vol. i. p. 186. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. pp. 246. 979. vol. ii. pp. 576. 1033. 1039. Relandi Antiq. Heb. p. 534.

IX. The preceding are the chief annual festivals noticed in the Sacred Writings, that are particularly deserving of attention: the Jews have various others of more modern institution, which are here designedly omitted. We therefore proceed to notice those extraordinary festivals which were celebrated only after the recurrence of a certain number of

1. The first of these was the SABBATICAL YEAR. For, as the seventh day of the week was consecrated as a day of rest to man and beast, so this gave rest to the land; which, during its continuance, was to lie fallow, and the "Sabbath of the land," or its spontaneous produce, was dedicated to charitable uses, to be enjoyed by the servants of the family, by the way faring stranger, and by the cattle. (Lev. xxv. 1 -7. Exod. xxiii. 11.) This was also the year of release from personal slavery (Exod. xxi. 2.), as well as of the remission of debts. (Deut. xv. 1,2.) Beausobre is of opinion that the frequent mention made in the New Testament of the remission of sins is to be understood as an allusion to the sabbatical year. In order to guard against famine on this and the ensuing year, God was graciously pleased to promise a triple produce of the lands upon the sixth year, sufficient to supply the inhabitants till the fruits or harvest sown in the eighth year were ripe. (Lev. xxv. 2-22.) This was a singular institution, peculiar to a theocracy. And the breach of it was among the national sins that occasioned the captivity, that the land might enjoy her Sabbaths, of which she had been defrauded by the rebellion of the inhabitants. (Lev. xxvi. 34. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21.)

2. The JUBILEE was a more solemn sabbatical year, held every seventh sabbatical year, that is, at the end of every forty-nine years, or the fiftieth current year. (Lev. xxv. 8— 10.) Concerning the etymology of the Hebrew word jobel (whence our jubilee is derived) learned men are by no means agreed; the most probable of these conflicting opinions is that of Calmet, who deduces it from the Hebrew verb hobil, to recall, or bring back; because estates, &c. that had been alienated were then brought back to their original owners. Such appears to have been the meaning of the word, as understood by the Septuagint translators, who render the Hebrew word jobel by agers, remission, and by Josephus, who says that it signified liberty.6

This festival commenced on the tenth day of the month Tisri, in the evening of the day of atonement (Lev. xxv. 9.): a time, Bishop Patrick remarks, peculiarly well chosen, as the Jews would be better disposed to forgive their brethren their debts when they had been imploring pardon of God for their own transgressions. It was proclaimed by the sound of trumpet throughout the whole land, on the great day of atonement. All debts were to be cancelled; all slaves or captives were to be released. Even those who had voluntarily relinquished their freedom at the end of their six years' service, and whose ears had been bored in token of their perpetual servitude, were to be liberated at the jubilee: for then they were to proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof. (Lev. xxv. 10.) Further, in this year all estates that had been sold, reverted to their original proprietors, or to the families to which they had originally 4 Schulzii Archaeol. Hebr. p. 316. Pictet. Antiq. Judaiques, p. 37. (Theologie Chrétienne, tom. iii.)

Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 337-339. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. i. pp. 387. et seq. Leusden, Philol. Hebr. Mixt. p. 307. Reland's Antiq. Hebr. p. 524. Dr. Hales's Analysis, vol. ii. book i. p. 278. Beausobre and L'Enfant, in Bp. Watson's Tracts, vol. iii. p. 124. Jennings's Jewish Antiq. book iii. ch. 9.

Ant. Jud. lib. iii. c. 12. § 3.

belonged this provision was made, that no family should
be totally ruined, and doomed to perpetual poverty for the
family estate could not be alienated for a longer period than
fifty years. The value and purchase-money of estates there-
fore diminished in proportion to the near approach of the
jubilee. (Lev. xxv. 15.) From this privilege, however,
houses in walled towns were excepted: these were to be
redeemed within a year, otherwise they belonged to the pur-
chaser, notwithstanding the jubilee. (ver. 30.) During this
year, as well as in the sabbatical year, the ground also had
its rest, and was not cultivated.1
The law concerning the sabbatical year, and especially
the year of jubilee, affords a decisive proof of the divine
legation of Moses. No legislator, unless he was conscious
that he was divinely inspired, would have committed himself
by enacting such a law: nor can any thing like it be found
among the systems of jurisprudence of any other nations,
whether ancient or modern. "How incredible is it that any
legislator would have ventured to propose such a law as
this, except in consequence of the fullest conviction on both
sides, that a peculiar providence would constantly facilitate
its execution. When this law, therefore, was proposed and
received, such a conviction must have existed in both the
Jewish legislator and the Jewish people. Since, then,
nothing could have produced this conviction, but the expe-
rience or the belief of some such miraculous interposition as
the history of the Pentateuch details, the very existence of
this law is a standing monument that, when it was given,
the Mosaic miracles were fully believed. Now this law was
coeval with the witnesses themselves. If, then, the facts
were so plain and public, that those who witnessed them
could not be mistaken as to their existence or miraculous
nature, the reality of the Mosaic miracles is clear and unde-
niable."2

The reason and design of the law of the jubilee was partly political and partly typical. "It was political, to prevent the too great oppression of the poor as well as their liability to perpetual slavery. By this means the rich were prevented from accumulating lands upon lands, and a kind of equality was preserved through all the families of Israel. Never was there any people so effectually secure of their liberty and property as the Israelites were: God not only engaging so to protect those invaluable blessings by his providence, that they should not be taken away from them by others; but

providing, in a particular manner by this law, that they should not be thrown away through their own folly; since the property, which 'every man or family had in their dividend of the land of Canaan, could not be sold or any way alienated for above half a century. By this means, also, the distinction of tribes was preserved, in respect both to their families and possessions; for this law rendered it necessary for them to keep genealogies of their families, that they might be able when there was occasion, on the jubilee year, to prove their right to the inheritance of their ancestors. By this means it was certainly known from what tribe and family the Messiah sprung. Upon which Dr. Allix observes, that God did not suffer them to continue in captivity out of their own land for the space of two jubilees, lest by that means their genealogies should be lost or confounded. A further civil use of the jubilee might be for the easier computation of time. For, as the Greeks computed by olympiads, the Romans by lustra, and we by centuries, the Jews probably reckoned by jubilees; and it might be one design of this institution to mark out these large portions of time for the readier computation of successive ages.

[ocr errors]

"There was also a typical design and use of the jubilee, which is pointed out by the prophet Isaiah, when he says, in reference to the Messiah, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' (Isa. lxi. 1, 2.) Where the acceptable year of the Lord,' when liberty was proclaimed to the captives,' and 'the opening of the prison to them that were bound,' evidently refers to the jubilee; but, in the prophetic sense, means the Gospel state and dispensation, which proclaims spiritual liberty from the bondage of sin and Satan, and the liberty of returning to our own possession, even the heavenly inheritance, to which, having incurred a forfeiture by sin, we had lost all right and claim." That our Lord began his public ministry, on a jubilee, Dr. Hales thinks, is evident from his declaration: "The LORD hath anointed me (as THE CHRIST) to preach the Gospel to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and restoration of sight to the blind; to set at liberty the bruised; to proclaim the acceptable year of THE LORD." (Luke iv. 18, 19.)

CHAPTER V.

SACRED OBLIGATIONS AND DUTIES.

SECTION I.

OF VOWS.

I. Nature of Vows.-How far acceptable to God.-II. Requisites essential to the Validity of a Vow.-III. Different Sorts of Vows-1. The Cherim, or Irremissible Vow.-2. Other Vows, that might be redeemed.-Of the Nazareate.

I. A yow is a religious engagement or promise voluntarily | Mark vii. 9-13. Christ himself notices the vow of Korban undertaken by a person towards Almighty God." Unless the Deity has expressly declared his acceptance of human vows, it can at best be but a very doubtful point, whether they are acceptable in his sight; and if they are not so, we cannot deduce from them the shadow of an obligation; for it is not from a mere offer alone, but from an offer of one party, and its acceptance by another, that the obligation to fulfil an engagement arises. The divine acceptance of vows, we can by no means take for granted; considering that from our vows God can derive no benefit, and that, in general, they are of just as little use to man." In Matt. xv. 4-6. and Leusden, Philol. Hebræo-Mixt. p. 309. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. i. pp. 376-386.

a Dr. Graves's Lectures on the Pentateuch, vol. i. p. 171.

Jennings's Jewish Antiq. book iii. ch. x. pp. 541, 542. Schulzii Archæol.

p. 619.

Hebr. pp. 341-344. Relandi Antiq. Hebr. p. 529.
Dr. Hales's Analysis, vol. ii. book i. p. 279. Lightfoot's Works, vol. ii.
The best practical illustration we have seen, of the analogy be-
ween the Mosaic jubilee and the Gospel, is to be found in the late Rev.
the 25th October, 1809, on the occasion of King George III.'s entering on

Dr. Claudius Buchanan's "Three Sermons on the Jubilee," celebrated on

the fiftieth year of his reign.

Michaelis's Commentaries on the Law of Moses, vol. ii. p. 263.
VOL. II.

(already considered), which was common in his time, and by which a man consecrated to God what he was bound to apply to the support of his parents; and he declares it to be so impious that we cannot possibly hold it to be acceptable to God. In the New Testament, no vows whatever are obligatory, because God has nowhere declared that he will accept them from Christians. But the people of Israel had such a declaration from God himself; although even they were not counselled or encouraged to make vows. In consequence of this declaration, the vows of the Israelites were binding; and that not only in a moral view, but according to the national law; and the priest was authorized to enforce and estimate their fulfilment. The principal passages relating to this Point are Lev. xxvii. Num. xxx. and Deut. xxiii. 18. 21, 22, 23.6

II. In order to render a vow valid, Moses requires, 1. "That it be actually uttered with the mouth, and not merely made in the heart. In Num. xxx. 3. 7. 9. 13. and Deut. xxiii. 24. he repeatedly calls it the expression of the

• Michaelis's Commentaries on the Law of Moses, vol. ii. pp. 264--266.

« ElőzőTovább »