THE book of Leviticus may be termed, “the priests’ guide book.” This is very much its character. It is full of principles for the guidance of such as desire to live in the enjoyment of priestly nearness to God. Had Israel gone on with Jehovah, according to the grace in which He had brought them out of the land of Egypt, they should have been to Him “a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” (Exod. 19:66And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6).) This, however, they failed to do. They put themselves at a distance. They got under law, and failed to keep it. Hence, Jehovah had to take up a certain tribe, and from that tribe a certain family, and from that family a certain man, and to him and to his house, was granted the high privilege of drawing nigh as priests unto God.
Now, the privileges of such a position were immense, but it had its heavy responsibilities, likewise. There would be the ever-recurring demand for the exercise of a discerning mind. “The priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for He is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.” (Mal. 2:77For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 2:7).) The priest was not only to bear the judgment of the congregation before the Lord, but also to expound the ordinances of the Lord to the congregation. He was to be the ever-ready medium of communication between Jehovah and the assembly. He was not merely to know the mind of God, for himself, but to be able also to interpret that mind to the people. All this would demand, of necessity, constant watching, constant waiting, constant hanging over the page of inspiration, that he might drink in to his very soul, all the precepts, the judgments, the statutes, the laws, the commandments, and the ordinances of the God of Israel, so as to be able to instruct the congregation, in reference to “those things which ought to be done.”
There was no room left for the play of fancy, the working of imagination, the introduction of man’s plausible inferences, or the cunning devices of human expediency. Everything was laid down, with the divine precision and commanding authority of a “thus saith the Lord.” Minute and elaborate as was the detail of sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies, nothing was left for man’s brain to originate. He was not even permitted to decide upon the kind of sacrifice to be offered, upon any given occasion nor yet as to the mode in which such sacrifice was to be presented. Jehovah took care of everything. Neither the congregation nor the priest had any authority, whatsoever, to decree, enact, or suggest as much as a single item throughout all the vast array of ordinances in the Mosaic economy. The word of the Lord settled all. Man had only to obey. This, to an obedient heart, was nothing short of an unspeakable mercy It is quite impossible to over estimate the privilege of being permitted to betake oneself to the oracles of God, and there find the most ample guidance as to all the details of one’s path and service, day by day. All that we need is a broken will, a mortified mind, a single eye. The divine guide book is as full as we can possibly desire. We want no more. To imagine that aught is left for man’s wisdom to supply, must be regarded as a flagrant insult offered to the sacred canon. No one can read the book of Leviticus, and not be struck with the extraordinary painstaking on the part of Israel’s God to furnish His people with the most minute instruction upon every point connected with His service and worship. The most cursory reader of the book might, at least, bear away with him this touching and interesting lesson.
And truly if ever there was a time when this self-same lesson needed to be read out in the ears of the professing church, this is the time. On all hands, the divine sufficiency of holy scripture is called in question. In some cases, this is openly and deliberately done. In others, it is with less frankness hinted, insinuated, implied, and inferred. The Christian mariner is told, directly, or indirectly, that the divine chart is insufficient for all the intricate details of his voyage-that such changes have taken place in the ocean of life since that chart was made, that, in many cases, it is entirely deficient for the purposes of modern navigation. He is told that the currents, tides, coasts, strands, and shores of that ocean are quite different, now, from what they were some centuries ago; and that, as a necessary consequence, he must have recourse to the aids which modern navigation supplies, in order to make up for the deficiencies in the old chart, which is, as a matter of course, admitted to have been perfect at the time it was made.
Now, I earnestly desire that the Christian render should be able, with clearness and decision, to meet this grievous dishonor done to the precious volume of inspiration, every line of which comes to him fresh from his Father’s bosom, through the pen of God the Holy Ghost. I desire that he should meet it, whether it comes before him in the shape of a bold and blasphemous statement, or a learned and plausible inference. Whatever garb it wears, it owes its origin to the enemy of Christ, the enemy of the Bible, the enemy of the soul. If, indeed, the word of God be not sufficient, then where are we, or whither shall we turn? to whom shall we betake ourselves for aid, if our Father’s book be in any respect defective? God says that His book can “furnish us thoroughly to all good works.” (2 Tim. 3:1717That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17).) Man says, No; there are many things about which the Bible is silent, which, nevertheless, we need to know. So who am I to believe? God or man? Our reply to anyone who questions the divine sufficiency of scripture, is just this, “Either you are not ‘a man of God!’ or else that for which you want a warrant is not ‘a good work.’” This is plain. No one can possibly think otherwise, with his eye resting on 2 Tim. 3:1717That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17).
Oh, for a deeper sense of the fullness, majesty, and authority of the word of God! We very much need to be braced up, on this point. We want such a deep, bold, vigorous, influential, and abiding sense of the supreme authority of the divine canon, and of its absolute completeness for every age, every clime, every position, every department, personal, social, and ecclesiastical, as shall enable us to withstand every attempt of the enemy to depreciate the value of that inestimable treasure. May our hearts enter more into the spirit of those words of the Psalmist, “Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” (Psalm 119:160160Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. (Psalm 119:160).)
From the M.S. of “Notes on the book of Leviticus.” (chap. 11)