to the justice of God, or that our acceptance rests upon any such satisfaction. But here, as in every other important point explanatory of the Christian dispensation, it is essential for us to consult our initiatory schoolmaster; and that eujoins a symbolic rite, that appears to be ordained for the express purpose of controverting, we in all humility conceive, the erroneous supposition that the vengeance of the Almighty could be glutted, and his wrath thereby appeased, by the sufferings and afflictions of a most just and blameless person. For that expressly directs, that on the great symbolic day of annual solemn expiation, Aaron should "take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape-goat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sinoffering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scape-goat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself: and he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat

that is upon the testimony, that he die not: and he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat and he shall make an atonement for the holy-place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them, in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head

of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness : and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." (Lev. xvi.)

In these special directions, two animals are clearly ordained to answer one and the same purpose; to be alike representative of him, who made our peace with God. Previous to these directions, it is expressly commanded, that when any man bring an offering unto the Lord, that he bring an unblemished animal, whether it be a sheep or a goat, that it be a male* without blemish. (Lev. i. 3, 10.) The same order is again enjoined for a sin-offering as for a burnt-offering: He shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats; a male without blemish was ordained to be offered to the Lord. But on the yearly day of solemn expiation, two goats are directed to be brought, and presented to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and lots cast on them, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape-goat. Aaron then is ordered to bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scape-goat was to be

* In some few instances, a female is ordained; but this is directed to be without blemish.

presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him—that is, with the goat that was slain. And after further directions that the priest first offer atonement for himself and household, to evince the necessity of an atonement being made unto the holiness and sanctity of him whom he approached, and the purification essential for those who minister unto him, he is enjoined to take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the golden altar, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail, and put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat, that he die not. And subsequent to the performance of other symbolic reconciliatory rites, the high priest is commanded to bring the live goat ordained, as we have seen, to be at the same time presented unto the Lord with the goat offered up for a sin offering, to make an atonement with him; and the high priest shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, who symboled him on whom the Lord has laid the iniquities of us all. But here let it be most especially observed for what purpose our iniquities were laid upon the goat. It certainly was not to demonstrate that abstracted sufferings could atone for them; for had that been the case, they would unquestionably have been laid upon. the suffering, slaughtered, unblemished animal that was offered up to God; but on the contrary,

we find the assigned reason for their being typically laid upon the living goat was, that he might convey them from the sight of him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; bear them away into the wilderness, unto a land that was uninhabited, and bury them in oblivion. On the same account our sins were laid upon the blessed Redeemer; by him they are removed far away from out the view of his offended Father; eclipsed by the resplendent lustre of his unblemished righteousness; and for his sake we are assured that we shall not be forgotten. His Almighty Father has blotted out as a thick cloud our transgressions, and as a cloud our sins. (Isa. xliv. 21, 22.) Our great High Priest, when mediating at that splended fane, the glorious heavenly altar, between the dead and living, consigns all iniquities (as heretofore observed) unto the incense cloud ascending-up unto the mercy-seat, where, blown by the pardoning breath of him who sits thereon enthroned, they are consigned to oblivion. It is therefore, we think, most fully proved by two animals having been jointly presented to the Lord-the one dead, the other living-to make, as Scripture expresses it, an atonement with that which was slain; or, in other words, to constitute one and the same atonement effected by the different offices performed by our most blessed Lord; that the righteousness of Christ at once propitiates for sins, bears forth from out God's sight our iniquities, and eclipses all transgressions. These are the glorious purposes which the presentation of these animals appears solely