Sword & Trowel 2018: Issue 2
thing to do. The offerer of those days did not hand over to the priests a liv- ing creature. They did later on when the crowds grew too large, but origi- nally they killed the sacrifi cial animal themselves, and this stamped on the mind the seriousness of forgiveness. ‘My sin,’ the offerer realised, ‘must be laid on another. This animal must die in my place.’ We should never think that the cer- emonies of old were superfl uous for they carried a tremendous impact on the offerers. However, the offerer not only kills the animal, he also fl ays it or skins it, and the priest deals with it from that point on. It is all designed to bring home the fact that death is the inevitable punishment of sin. It speaks to us today by urging us to be much more serious in repentance, remembering always that our Saviour had all our guilt transferred to him, assuming the responsibility, pain and
agony, and punishment that we, in effect, infl icted upon him. Formal worshippers under the law presum- ably hardened themselves to the ordeal, but where there was sincerity of heart, it was a harrowing experi- ence. For our part today we should never repent lightly. We read that the priests would bring the blood of the offering and ‘sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation’. This was not done in an obscure corner, but sprinkled ostentatiously around the altar to be accepted by God. It was a lot of blood, poured out in a protracted, obvious manner, remind- ing the offerer of the greatness of his sin. In that blood, sin became almost visible.
But why were the priests required to cut the carcasses and lay fi rst the wood then the pieces in a precise
The Israelites’ encampment in the wilderness. Watercolour by J J Derghi, 1866. Courtesy: Wellcome Collection
page 18 True Repentance for Believers
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