sacrifices were bloody[1], others unbloody[2]. The former consisted of sheep, goats and oxen without blemish; the latter of flour, fruits, oil and wine. When the thing offered was wholly consumed on the altar, it was called a holocaust[3] or whole-burnt offering, and represented the highest act of adoration. But when only the fat, as the most delicate part, was burned, and the rest eaten, it was called either a sacrifice of thanksgiving for benefits received, or a sacrifice of expiation for sins committed. The latter is also called a sin-offering[4] or simply a sin.
Moses also instituted the feasts of the Lord; for the Lord had told him to establish, first, the Feast of the Pasch or Passover, in memory of the paschal lamb, eaten by the children of Israel on the night when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain, and also in memory of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. For seven days they were to eat unleavened bread[5] while celebrating that feast.
Secondly, they were to keep holy, seven weeks after, the Feast of Pentecost, in remembrance of the law given them on Mount Sinai. On that day they were to bring the first-fruits of their harvest[6] as an offering to the Lord. Thirdly, when the harvest was all gathered in, they were to solemnize the Feast of Tabernacles, during which they were to take branches of trees and build tents, and dwell in them, so that their descendants might learn how the
- ↑ Bloody. He who offered the sacrifice laid his hand on the head of the victim, while the priest killed it and poured the blood on 'the altar, or sprinkled the people with it. This pouring of the blood on the altar was the most important part of the sacrifice, for by the shedding of its blood the life of the victim was offered.
- ↑ Unbloody . For this reason they were called meat-offerings. All these offerings, even the incense, were sprinkled with salt which, being a preservative against corruption, is a type of purity. It was also a token of friendship and in this case of friendship with God; wherefore it was called the salt of the covenant. Neither leaven nor honey might be presented on the altar, for they, being conducive to fermentation or corruption, were regarded as figures of sin.
- ↑ Holocaust. Every morning and every evening a one-year old lamb was offered as a holocaust. This was called the perpetual sacrifice.
- ↑ Sin-offering. In conjunction with these sacrifices, there was obligatory at least a general confession of the sins committed. For particular sins special sin-offerings were commanded and, before such could be offered, the offender had to confess the sin explicitly to the priest. No Israelite who had transgressed the law in a grave matter was allowed, under pain of death, to offer either a burnt offering or a peace-offering, unless he had first made a sin-offering and confessed his sin.
- ↑ Unleavened bread. It was therefore also called the Feast of unleavened bread (Chapter XXXIII).
- ↑ Harvest. The harvest is much earlier in those countries than it is with us.
