3 66 THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



sphere of nature to those which may be made in the 

 human world, I may observe that out of the ashes of 

 the burnt-offering all the beauty of the Hebrew faith 

 emanated. These ashes of the victim on the altar were 

 the evidence that the fire had done its utmost, and con- 

 sequently that the offering had been fully completed 

 and accepted, having ascended to God as an odour 

 of a sweet savour. To consume the burnt sacrifice 

 to ashes was equivalent to a full and perfect acceptance 

 of the offering, as we find in the words of the Psalmist : 

 " The Lord remember all thy offerings and accept " 

 or, as the margin correctly renders the original word, 

 turn to ashes "thy burnt sacrifice." And upon this 

 symbolical fact, as a foundation, rested the whole Heb- 

 rew ritual and polity. The beauty of the religious ser- 

 vices of the Israelites, the peace of their homes and 

 hearts, the prosperity of their nation, all depended 

 upon the great truth which the ashes of the burnt- 

 offering implied. Indicating, as they did, that the 

 penalty incurred by sin had been fully met, and the 

 means of a complete atonement provided, the Israelites 

 could enjoy freely all the blessings of life under the 

 smile of heaven. The Jewish priest, in a white linen 

 dress the garment of mourning and penitence which 

 he assumed for the purpose, carefully removed the 

 ashes from the top of the altar, and laid them, in the 

 first instance, on the ground beside it, on the east side. 

 Here, where the first rays of the rising sun would touch 

 and illumine them, they were allowed to remain for a 

 while, as a further proof of the fact that the sacrifice 



