fering, free-will offering (Lev.
7:11-16)--a _eucharistic_ offering. Hence its _social_ character. After
the sprinkling of the blood, the burning of the prescribed parts on the
altar, and the assignment to the priest of his portion, the offerer and
his friends feasted joyfully before the Lord on the remainder. Lev.
chap. 3 compared with chap. 7:11-18. In the case of monarchs, like David
and Solomon, the whole nation was feasted. 2 Sam. 6:17-19; 1 Kings
8:62-66. Hence the Messiah, as the great King of all nations, is
beautifully represented as paying his peace-offerings to God for the
deliverance granted him from his foes, and as summoning all nations to
the sacrificial feast: "My praise shall be of thee in the great
congregation; I will pay my vows [vows in the form of peace-offerings]
before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they
shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All
the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord," etc. Psa.
22:25-31. The peace-offering naturally followed the burnt-offering, as
that did the sin-offering in the sanctification of the Israelitish
congregation. Lev. 9:15-18. It signified joyful communion with God in
thanksgiving and praise; but this, too, only _through the blood of the
victim_ sprinkled upon the altar as a sign of expiation. Lev. chap. 3.
In these three classes of offerings, then, we have typically set forth,
first, _expiation_ restoring man to God's favor, then _self-consecration_,
then holy _communion_ in thanksgiving and praise--ALL THREE ONLY THROUGH
THE SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, the great Antitype of the Levitical
priests and sacrifices.

The sacrificial nature of the _passover_ appears in the direction given
at its institution that the blood of the paschal lamb should be
sprinkled on the lintel and two side-posts of the house where it was
eaten as a protection against the destroyer of the first-born (Exod.
12:22, 23); and in the ordinance afterwards established, requiring that
it should be slain at the sanctuary (Deut. 16:1-8), and its blood
sprinkled upon the altar. 2 Chron. 30:16; 35:11. Its character
approached very near to that of the peace-offerings. It was a joyous
festival, commemorative of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian
bondage; and thus typically shadowing forth the higher redemption of
God's people from the bondage of sin. As the blood of the paschal lamb
sprinkled on the doors of the h