“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering: that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you. Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect. You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh. Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
Show the surrounding paragraph
Leviticus 22:18-23 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering: that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you. Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect. You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh. Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. You must not offer to Yahweh that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land. You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering:
that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect.
You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh.
Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
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Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;
Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.
And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
Show all 3 translations
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Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them: Whosoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that bringeth his offering, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their free-will-offerings, which are brought unto the LORD for a burnt-offering;
that ye may be accepted, ye shall offer a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not bring; for it shall not be acceptable for you.
And whosoever bringeth a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto the LORD in fulfilment of a vow clearly uttered, or for a freewill-offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scabbed, or scurvy, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing too long or too short, that mayest thou offer for a freewill-offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (5)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
- Not to dedicate a blemished animal for the altar
- All offerings must be without blemish
- Not to inflict a blemish on a consecrated animal
Show all 5
Cross-references (68)
- Deuteronomy 17:1 (v20) You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep in which is a defect or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh…
- Numbers 15:8 (v21) When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh,
- Numbers 15:3 (vv18, 21) and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your…
- Malachi 1:8 (vv20, 22) When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your…
- Leviticus 1:2 (v18) “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the…
Show all 63 cross-references
- Leviticus 22:20 (v22) But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
- Deuteronomy 15:21 (v20) If it has any defect—is lame or blind, or has any defect whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.
- Leviticus 1:10 (vv18–19) “ ‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect.
- Hebrews 9:14 (vv19–20) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from…
- 1 Peter 1:19 (vv19–20) but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ,
- Leviticus 1:3 (v19) “ ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of…
- Leviticus 3:6 (v21) “ ‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock, either male or female, he shall offer it without defect.
- Leviticus 22:25 (v20) You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a…
- Deuteronomy 12:6 (v18) You shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your free will offerings,…
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (v21) When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. It is better that you should not…
- Exodus 12:5 (v19) Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats.
- Leviticus 1:9 (v22) but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made…
- Leviticus 1:13 (v22) but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering,…
- Leviticus 3:1 (v21) “ ‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without…
- Leviticus 3:3 (v22) He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh. The fat that covers the innards, and all the fat…
- Leviticus 3:5 (v22) Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of…
- Leviticus 21:18-21 (v22) For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, or a…
- Deuteronomy 23:21-23 (v21) When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be…
- Psalms 56:12 (v18) Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.
- Jonah 1:16 (v18) Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.
- Jonah 2:9 (v18) But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
- Malachi 1:13-14 (v20) You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was…
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 (v19) For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Ephesians 5:27 (v19) that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and…
- 1 Peter 2:22-24 (v19) who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten,…
- Leviticus 4:32 (v19) “ ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.
- Leviticus 7:11-38 (v21) “ ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh: If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall…
- Leviticus 7:16 (v18) “ ‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On…
- Leviticus 17:10 (v18) “ ‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face…
- Leviticus 17:13 (v18) “ ‘Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal…
- Leviticus 21:18 (v23) For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,
- Leviticus 23:38 (v18) in addition to the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free…
- Numbers 15:14-16 (v18) If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by…
- Deuteronomy 12:17 (v18) You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your…
- Deuteronomy 16:10 (v18) You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to…
- Psalms 22:25 (v18) My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
- Psalms 50:14 (v21) Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.
- Psalms 61:5 (v18) For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
- Psalms 61:8 (v18) So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may fulfill my vows daily.
- Psalms 65:1 (v18) Praise waits for you, God, in Zion. Vows shall be performed to you.
- Psalms 66:13 (v18) I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,
- Psalms 116:14 (v18) I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of all his people.
- Psalms 116:18 (v18) I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of all his people,
- Proverbs 7:14 (v21) “Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me. Today I have paid my vows.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4 (v18) When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
- Nahum 1:15 (v18) Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the…
- Matthew 27:4 (v19) saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
- Matthew 27:24 (v19) So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before…
- Matthew 27:54 (v19) Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared…
- 1 Peter 3:18 (v19) Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the…
- Genesis 28:20 (v21) Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to…
- Genesis 35:1-3 (v21) God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of…
- Matthew 27:19 (v19) While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered…
- Luke 23:14 (v19) and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and behold, having examined him before you, I found no basis…
- Luke 23:41 (v19) And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
- Luke 23:47 (v19) When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.”
- John 19:4 (v19) Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against…
- Acts 18:18 (v18) Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and…
63 distinct cross-references across this passage (68 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v22 Or, wart.
Or, wart.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23 Lev 22:19 [Ye shall offer] at your own will…
Lev 22:19 [Ye shall offer] at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
Ver. 19. At your own will.] Yet observing strictly the law in that case provided, with all the rites appointed. Such will worship is very acceptable.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21, 23 Or of the strangers; such as were proselytes.
Or of the strangers; such as were proselytes.
For all his vows. See on Lev 7:16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–23 Ye shall offer at your own will,.... For vows…
Ye shall offer at your own will,.... For vows and freewill offerings were at their own option, and depended on their own will and pleasure, and when offered should be with a willing mind, and from their whole heart: or "for good will to you"; as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; or for gracious, acceptation, that is, that they might be well pleasing to God, and acceptable in his sight, so Jarchi; in order to which the following direction was strictly to be observed:
a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, and of the goats; bullocks, sheep, and goats, were the only sorts of beasts, out of which sacrifices were taken, and those that were for burnt offerings were always to be males, and unblemished, see Lev 1:3; but for other offerings, as peace offerings and sin offerings, females might be used, see Lev 3:1. Fowls are not mentioned, though burnt offerings were of them, because it was not required in them, only of beasts, that they should be males, and without blemish; for, as Jarchi observes, these were not rejected on account of a blemish, only for want of a member.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv18–19 Strangers - Such as were proselytes.
Strangers - Such as were proselytes.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20, 23 Verse 20. Whatsoever hath a blemish] The same perfection…
Verse 20. Whatsoever hath a blemish] The same perfection is required in the sacrifice that was required in the priest; see on Le 22:2, and the notes on the preceding chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 23 Lev 22:19. Ye shall offer it at your own…
Lev 22:19. Ye shall offer it at your own will — This is better rendered by the Seventy, the Arabic, and other versions, In order to its being accepted ye shall offer a male. And so we render the same word לרצון, leratson, in the next verse. Males were required in burnt-offerings: but females were accepted in peace-offerings and sin-offerings.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv19, 22 Ye shall offer at your own will a male…
Ye shall offer at your own will a male - Rather, That it may be accepted (so Lev 22:29) for you it shall be a male. See Lev 1:3. It is the same phrase as in Lev 22:20-21, Lev 22:27.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 22, 23 Strangers: proselytes of justice, or converts of the Jewish…
Strangers: proselytes of justice, or converts of the Jewish religion. See ver. 25.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv19, 23 THE SACRIFICES MUST BE WITHOUT BLEMISH. (Lev. 22:17-33)
THE SACRIFICES MUST BE WITHOUT BLEMISH. (Lev. 22:17-33)
Ye shall offer at your own will--rather, to your being accepted.
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a male without blemish--This law (Lev 1:3) is founded on a sense of natural propriety, which required the greatest care to be taken in the selection of animals for sacrifice. The reason for this extreme caution is found in the fact that sacrifices are either an expression of praise to God for His goodness, or else they are the designed means of conciliating or retaining His favor. No victim that was not perfect in its kind could be deemed a fitting instrument for such purposes if we assume that the significance of sacrifices is derived entirely from their relation to Jehovah. Sacrifices may be likened to gifts made to a king by his subjects, and hence the reasonableness of God's strong remonstrance with the worldly-minded Jews (Mal 1:8). If the tabernacle, and subsequently the temple, were considered the palace of the great King, then the sacrifices would answer to presents as offered to a monarch on various occasions by his subjects; and in this light they would be the appropriate expressions of their feelings towards their sovereign. When a subject wished to do honor to his sovereign, to acknowledge allegiance, to appease his anger, to supplicate forgiveness, or to intercede for another, he brought a present; and all the ideas involved in sacrifices correspond to these sentiments--those of gratitude, of worship, of prayer, of confession and atonement [BIB. SAC.].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21, 22, 23 ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICES, Lev_22:17-28.
ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICES, Lev_22:17-28.
18. Strangers in Israel — For their religious privileges, see Lev_1:2, note. For their civil rights, see chap. 23, note.
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Vows — There are exigencies in the history of every man when he is impelled to make religious resolutions. For the character of the sacrifices prescribed for the release from the vow, and also for the freewill offerings, see Lev_7:11; Lev_7:16, notes.
Burnt offering — See chapters 1 and Lev_6:9, notes.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv22–23 22. The definitions of what constitutes a blemish may…
22. The definitions of what constitutes a blemish may be compared with those of Lev_21:18 ff. ‘Broken ‘here is from the same root as that so rendered in Lev_21:19; ‘maimed’ is lit. cut, mutilated; ‘a wen’ means a running sore, or ulcer.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv18–23 (18) And unto all the children of Israel.—As the…
(18) And unto all the children of Israel.—As the following laws presented the condition of the animals which the Israelites are to offer, they are addressed to the laity as well as to the priests.
Whatsoever he be.—Better, what man soever there be, as it is translated in the Authorised version Lev_17:3 (and see Note on Lev_17:8).
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Offer his oblation.—Better, offer his offering, as the Authorised version translates it in Lev_3:7; Lev_3:14; Lev_7:12; Lev_17:4, &c. It is difficult to divine why the translators gave here a different rendering of a fixed sacrificial formula which it is important to reproduce uniformly in a translation.
For all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings.—Better, for any manner of vow, or for any manner of freewill offering. That is, if an Israelite by race, or one who was originally a stranger but has joined the Jewish community, brings a sacrifice, be it in consequence of a vow which he has made, or be it a freewill offering. Both these kinds of sacrifices were entirely voluntary, and the difference between them is described in Lev_7:16.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v21 It shall be perfect to be accepted.
Lev_22:21
It shall be perfect to be accepted.
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A plain mans sermon
1. The ceremonial law, as ordained by the hand of Moses and Aaron, called the worshippers of God to great carefulness before Him. Before their minds that solemn truth was ever made visible, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Nothing might be done thoughtlessly. Of every ceremony it might be said, It must be perfect to be accepted. God must have the minds and thoughts of men, or He counts that they are no worshippers. We need to think a great deal more about how we come before the Most High; and if we thought more and prayed more, we should become more certain of our inability to do anything as we ought to do it, and we should be driven to a more entire dependence upon the Spirit of God in every act of worship. This in itself would be a great blessing.
2. The ceremonial law also engendered in men who did think a great respect for the holiness of God. They could not help seeing that God required everything in His service to be of the very best. They must have felt that sin was not a trifle, but a thing for which there must be life given and blood shed before it could be removed; and that life and blood must be the life and blood of a perfect and unblemished offering.
3. Under the Jewish ceremonial law, one of the most prominent thoughts, next to a great respect for the holiness of God, would be a deep regard for the law of God. Everywhere that the Israelite went he was surrounded by law. If men do not understand the law, they will not feel that they are sinners; and if they are not consciously sinners, they will never value the sin-offering.
I. First, then, the rule of our text, it shall be perfect to be accepted, may be used to shut out all those faulty offerings whereon so many place their confidence.
1. It most effectually judges and casts forth all self-righteousness, although this is the great deceit wherewith thousands are buoyed up with false hopes. It shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. If you can come up to this rule you shall be saved by your righteousness; but if you cannot reach you must fail of acceptance.
2. Why, look, ye that hope to be saved by your own doings, your nature at the very first is tainted! There is evil in your heart from the very beginning, so that you are not perfect and are not without blemish. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
3. Look again, for I feel sure that there must have been a blemish somewhere as matter of fact. As yet you are not conscious of a blemish; and possibly there is some justification for this unconsciousness. Looking upon you, I feel inclined to love you, as Jesus loved that young man who could say of the commandments, All these have I kept from my youth up. But I must beg you to answer this question--Has there not been a blemish in your motives? What have you been doing all these good things for? Why, that I might be saved! Precisely so. Therefore selfishness has been the motive which has ruled your life. Moreover, it is not only your nature and your motive which are imperfect. You certainly must have erred somewhere or other, in some act of your life. The Scripture also is dead against you when it says, There is none righteous; no, not one.
4. Methinks if I could read all hearts, there is not one here, however self-righteous he may be, who would not have to confess distinct acts of sin. I know how some of you have lived. You were amiable girls and excellent young women, and have grown up to be careful, loving wives; and therefore you say, I never did anybody any harm; surely I may be accepted. I wish that there were more like you. I am not condemning you; far from it; but I know that your tendency is to think that because of all this you must in yourselves be accepted of God. Give me your hand, and let me say to you, with tears, It is not so, my sister; it is not so, my brother. It must be perfect to be accepted; there must be no blemish in it. This is a death-blow for your self-confidence; for there was a time, some day or other in your life, in which you did wrong. What I have you no hasty temper? Have no quick words escaped you which you would wish to recall? What! have you never murmured against God, or complained of His providence? Have you never been slothful when you ought to have been diligent? Can you say that your heart has never desired evil--never imagined impurity? Have you never gone to live in an old house which looked like new? You had fresh paint, and varnish, and paper in superabundance; and you thought yourself dwelling in one of the sweetest of places, till one day it happened that a board was taken up, and you saw under the floor. What a gathering of every foul thing! You could not have lived in that house at peace for a minute had you known what had been covered up. Rottenness had been hidden, decay had been doctored, death had been decorated. That is just like our humanity. When lusts are quiet, they are all there. The best man in this place, who is not a believer in Christ, would go mad if he were to see himself as God sees him.
5. This text makes a clean sweep of all other kinds of human confidences. Some are deceived in this sort: Well, they say, I do not trust in my works; but I am a religious person, and I attend the sacrament, and I go to my place of worship pretty regularly. I feel that I must certainly be right. I have faith in Jesus Christ and in myself. In various ways men thus compose an image whose feet are part of iron and part of clay.
II. As this rule shuts out all other confidences, so this rule shuts us up to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Oh, if I had the tongues of men and of angels, I could never fitly tell you of Him who offered Himself without spot unto God, for He is absolutely perfect; there is no blemish in Him!
1. He is perfect in His nature as God and man. There was not the possibility of sinning about the Saviour--no tendency that way, no desire that way. Nothing that could be construed into evil ever came upon His character.
2. As He was perfect in His nature, so was He in His motive. What brought Him from above but love to God and man? You can find no trace of ambition in Christ Jesus. In Him there is no thought of self.
3. As His nature was perfect, so was His spirit. He was never sinfully angry, nor harsh, nor untrue, nor idle. Tile air of His soul was the atmosphere of heaven rather than of earth.
4. Look at His life of obedience, and see how perfect that was. Which commandment did He ever break? Which duty of relationship did He ever forget? He honoured the law of God and loved the souls of men.
5. Look at the perfection of His sacrifice. He gave His body to be tortured, and His mind to be crushed and broken, even unto the death-agony. He gave Himself for us a perfect sacrifice. All that the law could ask was in Him.
III. Listen, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that know the Lord! You are saved. You have not, therefore, to bring any sacrifice by way of a sin-offering, but you have to bring sacrifices of thanksgiving. It is your reasonable service that you offer your bodies a living sacrifice unto God. If you do this you cannot bring an absolutely perfect sacrifice, but you must labour to let it be perfect in what is often the Biblical sense of perfection. You must take care that what you bring is not blind, for the blind were not to be offered. You must serve God with a single eye to the glory of God. And as it must not be blind, so it must not be broken. Whenever we serve God, we must do it with the whole of our being, for if we try to serve God with a bit of our nature, and leave the rest unconsecrated, we shall not be accepted. Next, they were not to bring a maimed sacrifice: that is, one without its limbs. Some people give grudgingly, that is to say, they come up to the collection-box with a limp. Many serve Christ with a broken arm. The holy work is done, but it is painfully and slowly done. Among the heathen, I believe, they never offered in sacrifice to the gods a calf that had to be carried. The reason was that they considered that the sacrifice ought to be willing to be offered, and so it must be able to walk up to the altar. Notice in the Old Testament, though there were many creatures, both birds and beasts, that were offered to God, they never offered any fish on the holy altar. The reason probably is that a fish could not come there alive. Its life would be spent before it came to the altar, and therefore it could not render a life unto God. Take care that you bring your bodies a living sacrifice. We must not bring Him the mere chrysalis of a man, out of which the life has gone; but we must bring before Him our living, unmaimed selves if we would be acceptable before Him. It is then added, or having a wen. It does not look as though it would hurt the sacrifice much to have a wen; yet there must not be a wen, or spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Above all, avoid that big wen of pride. The sacrifice was not to be scabbed, or to have the scurvy. That is to say, it was to be without any sort of outward fault. I have heard men say, It is true I did not do that thing well, but my heart was right. That may be, but you must try and make the whole matter as good as it can be. What a deal of scabbed service our Lord gets! Men try to be benevolent to their fellow-creatures with an irritable temper. Certain people try to serve God, and write stinging letters to promote brotherly love, and dogmatical epistles in favour of large-mindedness. Too many render to the Lord hurried, thoughtless worship; and many more give for offerings their smallest coins and such things as they will never miss. God has many a scurvy sheep brought before Him. The best of the best should be given to the Best of the best. Would God that the best of our lives, the best hours of the morning, the best skill of our hands, the best thoughts of our minds, the very cream of our being, were given to our God! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Offerings to be without blemish
1. This law was, then, necessary for the preserving of the honour of the sanctuary and of the God that was there worshipped.
2. This law made all the legal sacrifices the fitter to be types of Christ, the great Sacrifice, from which all those derived their virtue.
3. It is an instruction to us to offer to God the best we have in our spiritual sacrifices. If our devotions be ignorant, and cold, and trifling, and full of distractions, we offer the blind, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice. But cursed be the deceiver that doth so, for while he thinks to put a cheat upon God, he puts a damning cheat upon his own soul. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Blemishes in our sacrifices
All religious service is of the nature of sacrifice.
I. Read this requirement of perfect sacrifices, and by it let us test our regard for the sabbath services. God has once, at least, read us a very solemn lesson of the manner in which He regards lost Sabbaths. Seventy Sabbatical years the Jews allowed to drop out of their calendar. Seventy years were spent by them in captivity. A fearful presage to us of what might be the national judgment if, as a Church and people, we went on to blot out from amongst us our day of rest. Every one will agree that if the Sabbath be obligatory, then it is assuredly obligatory thus far--
1. That there be regular attendance upon public service.
2. Of the other hours of the day, that a part be spent in private devotional exercises, a part in religious reading; that a higher and more sacred tone of conversation be maintained; that some work of piety and love be performed.
II. By this test let us judge our sanctuary worship. Examine ourselves in the house of God. Difficulty of keeping the mind collected and devout results from want of due preparation.
1. Something may be said respecting the posture of body we assume in the sanctuary. Position of body reacts upon the mind. Indolence is associated with, and leads to, irreverence. Kneeling is required equally by the dignity of God and the weakness of our nature.
2. So with the voice. Difficult to overestimate how much is lost--
(a) to the beauty of our services;
(b) to the glory of God;
(c) to our own souls, by the silence so many of us maintain, both in the responses and in the service of song.
But there are more serious blemishes in our sanctuary sacrifices than these. Where is--
(1) The constant mental effort essential to true worship and proper in the presence of God?
(2) The self-distrust due from such sinful creatures as we?
(3) The self-discipline to bring ourselves into responsiveness to Gods Spirit?
(4) The inward up-looking for Divine light and grace?
(5) The frequent reminding our selves of what we are and what God is?
(6) The simple spirit of self-application?
(7) The faith to give wings to prayer?
Well might St. James say, Ye have not because ye ask not, or ask amiss. Blemish on sacrifice drives the flame down again.
III. By this test let us examine our observance of the sacrament of the Lords supper. A word in solemn affection to some. You never attend the sacrament to celebrate the Lords death at all. Others, if at all, so irregularly as almost to turn the attendance into a mockery.
1. Happy for us that we can turn from all our poor blemished sacrifices to that pure and perfect sacrifice of Christ, which has been offered without blemish and without spot for us.
2. Only let us never forget that he who would safely trust in the power of that Sacrifice for his salvation must take the spotlessness of that Sacrifice for his daily pattern. (Anon.)
Giving the worst to God
A pastor went one day to call on a member of his church, who was a farmer. During the conversation the work of Christian benevolences was touched upon, and the farmer proudly alluded to the fact that out of his few acres of ground he always set aside one acre to the Lords use. The pastor, hoping to here get the material for an illustration in his own work, asked the farmer brother, Which acre do you set aside? This was a question that came very unexpectedly, but the farmer was honest enough to tell the truth, and replied, When it is a dry season, I select one up there, pointing to a field on the hillside; and when it is a wet season, I choose one down there, pointing to a field of very low land which lay at the foot of the hill. I give this illustration, not on account of its rarity, but because it is a true picture of thousands of professed Christians, who give to Gods service that part of their time and means that is left after first satisfying their own personal selfish ends. (Sharpened Arrows.)
God ought to have the best
One cold morning a little ragged, woeful-looking child came in at our back door, begging for food. Please, maam, mend the children most starved. Only a bit o bread. Have you no father or mother, child? asked
I. Yesm, and a look of shame and despair mantled his hollow cheeks. Dont they work and earn money? Yesm, little; but they most allus spend it afore they gets home, at the Horn o Plenty. Immediately my heart became adamant. The miserable, drunken brutes, thought I, Ill not feed their children. Then I remembered there is a very stale loaf of bread in the cupboard, scarcely fit for toast. I gave that to the child, very glad to dispose of it. He grabbed it eagerly, with a clutch that reminded one of the grasp of the drowning, when they would fain save themselves. Little Gracie, our six-year-old darling, had been a silent spectator; but after the boy departed, she came to me with deep inquiry depicted upon her spiritual countenance, saying, Mamma, if Jesus Christ had come and said He was starving to death, would you have given Him that awful dry loaf of bread? Why, child, said I, why do you ask such a question ? Why, when we give to the poor, ought we not to think that we are really giving to Jesus Himself? I thought He said so when here upon the earth. Well, Gracie, said I, kissing her sweet, troubled face, I think you are right, and I will remember your lesson next time. Yes, Gracie, we, whom the Lord hath blessed in our granary and our store, would soon relieve suffering humanity if we gave our alms as if we really were giving to the Blessed Redeemer. We are too prone to forget this truth. The very best that we have in the house isnt too good for Him, is it, mamma? asked she. No, no, my precious child, replied I, clasping her to my heart and thinking, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength and wisdom. (Christian Age.)
Worthless offerings
A missionary in China, describing in the Sunday at Home, the sacrifices which are offered to Confucius at the usual and autumnal equinoxes, says, We looked at the victims, and they were diseased, scraggy brutes, worthless offerings. Oh, the mockery and the utter insincerity and indifference of the Chinese mind to all sense of honour I My friend explained the matter to me; he said they were allowed so much by the Treasury for this purpose, and the cheaper they could get the animals the more they could pocket. (J. Tinling.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 22 to be accepted
to be accepted
This can be stated in active form. AT: "for me to accept it" or "for Yahweh to accept it" (See: Active or Passive)
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translationWords
sacrifice
fellowship offering
flocks
fulfill
freewill offering
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 21, 23 22:18 Apparently individuals could present a whole burnt offering…
22:18 Apparently individuals could present a whole burnt offering instead of a peace offering if they desired (see 1:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.