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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 40:38
The cloud … was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was on. it by night. Compare Exodus 13:21, Exodus 13:22; and Exodus 14:20, Exodus 14:24; Numbers 9:15, Numbers 9:16. The cloud had two aspects—one obscure, the other r…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1-17
PART I THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RESPECTING SACRIFICES EXPOSITION THE SACRIFICES (chapters 1-7). There are five classes of sacrifices instituted or regulated in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, each of which has it…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1
And the LORD called unto Moses. The first word of the verse, in the original Vayikra, meaning "and called," has been taken as the designation of the book in the Hebrew Bible. The title Leviticon, or Leviticus, was first…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1-17
Entire consecration, as illustrated in the burnt offering. cf. Romans 12:1.—We start with the assumption that the Book of Exodus presents "the history of redemption." It is an account of how the Lord delivered the peopl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1-14
The weakness of man and the grace of God. Measureless is the distance between man and his Maker. And it is sometimes emphasized in such a way as to repress thought and stifle the aspirations of the human breast. In Scri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1-9
The greatness of God. Too wide a field lessens the thoroughness of observation. Hence it is allowable and advantageous to distinguish in thought what is in reality inseparable, in order, by fixing the attention upon cer…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1-17
Law of the burnt offerings. The object of worship, place, worshipper, offering, are all clearly set forth. The way of obedience made plain.
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:1
"And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation." This is the foundation on which the whole of positive religion is built up, the Divine voice speaking through a mediator, a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:2
If any man of you bring. Sacrifices are not now being instituted for the first time. Burnt offerings at least, if not peace offerings, had existed since the time of the Fall. The Levitical law lays down regulations adap…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:2
Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock." Here is the great fundamental prin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:2-17
Principles of spiritual sacrifice. All who know God are engaged, frequently, if not continually, in sacrificing unto him. Here are principles of sacrifice by which we may be guided. I. THAT GOD DESIRES AND DEMANDS THE B…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:2-17
The true end of sacrifice,-entire consecration to God. We shall reach the end for which God introduced all that apparatus of Divine worship so elaborately described in this book if we take the following steps:— I. THE S…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:3
If his offering be a burnt sacrifice. The Hebrew term for "burnt sacrifice" is olah, meaning "that which ascends;" sometimes kaleel "whole offering," is found (Deuteronomy 33:10); the LXX. use the word ὁλοκαύτωμα, "wh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:3-17
The burnt offering. It was wholly consumed by the fire of God's altar; nothing was left for the after consumption either of the offerer or even of God's ministers, as in the other sacrifices. I. IT TYPIFIES THE ENTIRE S…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:3
The burnt sacrifice. The most ancient, that which represents all others. Notice— I. THE MAIN PRINCIPLE REPRESENTED—SELF-SURRENDER IN ORDER TO SELF-PRESERVATION THROUGH THE COVENANTED MERCY OF JEHOVAH. In this principle…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:3-9
The burnt sacrifice of the herd. Having given general instructions concerning the great business of sacrifice, the Most High descends to particulars, and here describes the burnt sacrifice of the herd. These particulars…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:4
And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." A most significant commandment, full of gracious meaning for those who observed it. I. ALL ATON…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:4
And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering. This putting, or forcibly leaning, the hand on the victim's head, which is the most essential part of the oblation of the victim, was a symbolical act imply…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:5-9
Medication. The sacrificial act cannot be completed, though it can be begun, by the offerer alone. The intervention of God's priest is requisite, and it is his hand which performs the most solemn portion of the rite. Th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:5
And he shall kill the bullock. After having made the presentation, the offerer proceeds to the second part of the sacrifice, the immolation or slaying, which was to be performed before the Lord, that is, in front of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:5-9
The killing, flaying, and consuming of the victim. Full, throughout, of the idea of atonement. The three main elements are— I. The blood. II. the fire. III. The sweet savour unto the Lord. Consider— I. THE SPRINKLED BLO…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:6
He shall flay the burnt offering. The hide was given to the priest (Leviticus 7:8). The whole of the remainder of the animal was consumed by the fire of the altar; none of it was eaten by the offerer and his friends as…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:7
The priest shall put fire upon the altar. The fire once kindled was never to be allowed to go out (Leviticus 6:13). Unless, therefore, these words refer to the first occasion only on which a burnt sacrifice was offered,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 1:8
And the priests shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order. The head and the fat are designated by name, because, with the "pieces," they complete the whole of the animal with the exception of the hide. The or…