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and a power were ascribed to them which they did not of thenasekes -posr sess , the prophets were commissioned not only to condemn this perversion , to denounce this abuse , but to condemn and denounce it in such a manner as to shew that , in their opinion , the object of sacrifices was , not to prefigure another and greater sacrifice to come , bat to be instrumental ia enforcing the authority of the laws of God and the obedience doe to them , in
leadinoto the practice of the moral and religious virtues . They do not say to the Jews , You have mistaken the purpose for which sacrifices were ordained , in forgetting , in overlooking , in not fixing your minds and thoughts upon the great sacrifice hereafter to be made ; but their language is , Your sacrifices are useless , are worthless , are hateful to God , because you have not employed them for their destined end , for the purpose of promoting your growth ia true righteousness , of leading vou into the mths of nmtv and virtup . R *>
-lying upon their sacrifices , and trusting to the performance of the ceremonial rather than to that of the moral and spiritual part of their religion , God is said to have rebuked this false , presumptuous confidence in the following manner : " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts , the God of Israel , Pot your burntofferings unto your sacrifices , and eat flesh . For I spake not unto your fathers , nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt , concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices ; but this thing I
commanded them , saying , Obey my voice , and I will be your God and ye shall be my people ; and walk ye in the ways that I have commanded you > that it may be well with you . " * Now if sacrifices were designed by God not as accommodations to the state of the times , to the character and condi T tion of the people who were to practise them , but as symbols and types of some future and better sacrifice , this language is totally inexplicable . To us it appears to have but one meaning , and that meaning to be plainly this :
You rely upon the performance of your ceremonies , of your sacrifices and atonements , forgetting that , at first , when I brought you out of the land of Egypt * I gave no commandment concerning them . Nor would any commandment to this effect have been given , hiad it not been for thegrossness of your conceptions and the hardness of your hearts . This rendered their appointment expedient and necessary , as means and instruments of addressing your understanding and of engaging your imaginations and affecuuiisout
; oeware ot supposing , that they ate or ever can beQt any service to you , unless they operate upon your conduct and conduce to your moral and religious improvement , Supposing , however , that sacrifices were at first designed to Tepresent the death of Christ , and that , this purpose being lost sight of , they were performed in vain ; what , under these circumstances , is the kind of / reproof which we should expect to see adopted ; and in what sort of language would it be clothed ? Would it not be after this manner : " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? saith ihe'Lord . Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me . " Your sacrifices have
altogether failed of accomplishing their intended work . They have not directed your thoughts and attention to the great sacrifice which they were designed to represent . When you see your victims , look to the great victim yet to be offered up , and when you behold the death of the lamb or bullock , remember that it prefigures the death of your Messiah . Were Dr . Smith ' s
* Jeremiah vii . 21 .
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Review . ^ Dr . J . P . Smith ' s Discourses . 4 £ 9
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1828, page 479, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2562/page/47/
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