, xii. 42 seq; Matthew xxvii. 6).
The second point is this: Just as the special purposes and
occasions of sacrifice fall out of sight, there comes into
increasing prominence the one uniform and universal occasion--that
of sin; and one uniform and universal purpose--that of
propitiation. In the Priestly Code the peculiar mystery in the
case of all animal sacrifices is atonement by blood; this appears
in its purest development in the case of the sin and trespass
offerings, which are offered as well for individuals as for the
congregation and for its head. In a certain sense the great day
of atonement is the culmination of the whole religious and
sacrificial service, to which, amid all diversities of ritual,
continuously underlying reference to sin is common throughout. Of
this feature the ancient sacrifices present few traces. It was
indeed sought at a very early period to influence the doubtful or
threatening mood of Deity, and make His countenance gracious by
means of rich gifts, but the gift had, as was natural then, the
character of a tentative effort only (Micah vi. 6). There was no
such thought as that a definite guilt must and could be taken away
by means of a prescribed offering.
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