The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 10

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10

The Lutheran Pioneer.

The High Priest.

blood, He entered in once into the holy place,

| blood of goats, and calves, but by His own | seech Him to bring His perfect wisdom to help

our folly, but we try to be wise for ourselves.

Our picture is very appropriate for the| having obtained eternal redemption for us,” | Is this not a great sin against God, who merci-
season of Lent. It shows us the High Priest | Hebr. 9, 11. 12. And again we read: ‘‘Christ | fully condescends to desire us to trust all our
of the people of Israel, who, with all the sac-| is not entered into the holy places made with | cares and sorrows to His wisdom and mercy?
Tifices and ceremonies of the Old Testament, | hands, which are the figures of the true; but/ Do we not offend Him when we will not trust
was a type of Christ and His work for the re- into heaven itself, now to appear in the pres- ; Him?

demption of sinners. |

In our picture you will see that the High |
Priest wore a peculiar dress, or robe of office, |
ordered by God in all its details. He wore|
a breastplate, called also the breastplate of |
judgment. In it were set twelve precious/

ence of God for us.’’ Hebr. 9, 24.

—— -o-~<mme--—

The Snow-Ball.

In the cold winter-time, some boys at play

O my God, hast Thou formed the eye and
| dost Thou not see?—hast Thou planted the
}ear, and dost Thou not hear?—hast Thou
|} created the heart, and dost Thou not care
for it? For my part I have resolved that I
| will roll my heavy burden of care no farther

stones, three in a row, set in four rows, cor-| had made a snow-ball, and had rolled it over | than to Thy feet; and, if I have not strength

responding to the twelve tribes
of Israel. Each stone had the
name of one of the tribes of the
children of Israel engraven upon
it. The High Priest also wore a
headdress called the mitre. The
chief garment was the ephod,
consisting of two pieces of cloth |
falling over the breast to below
the knees and over the back, and
held in place upon the shoulders
by clasps of large onyx stones, each of which
had six names of Israel graven upon it. The
ephod was further held round the waist by
a girdle of gold, blue, scarlet, purple and
fine twined linen. The skirt of the robe had
a trimming of pomegranates in blue, red, and
crimson, with a small gold bell between the
pomegranates alternately.

The High Priest alone was permitted to
enter the Holy of Holies, which he did once
a year, on the great day of atonement, when
he sprinkled the blood of the sin-offering on
the mercy seat, and burnt incense within the
veil. (Lev. 16.) ‘The bells at the skirt of his
dress were to give a sound when the High
Priest went into and came out of the Holy
Place. Our picture shows him with the cen-
ser in his hand.

The High Priest of the Old Testament was
a type of Christ, the true High Priest, who
offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of
the world, and who has entered the Holy of
Holies by His own blood, and maketh inter-

_ cession for His people before the throne of
His Father, bearing the names of His believ-
ing children as the High Priest of the Old
Testament bore the names of the children of
Israel upon the breastplate.

Of Christ as our High Priest you may read
in the epistle to the Hebrews. There it is
said of Christ: ‘‘Such 2 High Priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, sepa-
tate from sinners, and made higher than the
heavens ; who needeth not daily, as those high
Priests [of the Old Testament], to offer up

' sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for

the people’s; for this He did once, when He
offered up Himself,’”’ Hebr. 7, 26. 27. Again

_ we read: ‘‘Christ being come a High Priest of

good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that
to say, not of this building; neither by the

=

The High Priest.

and over so long that at length it was too
heavy for them to move. Here, said Gott-
hold, as he passed by, is a true emblem of
human cares. At first they are often light
and trifling, as small as this snow-ball at its
beginning; but in impatience and unbelief we
roll them about, magnify them, and turn them
over, till they oppress our hearts with an in-
tolerable load, which we are no longer able to
bear. These boys have labored hard, and all
they have for their pains is that some who
pass will say, ‘‘Boys have been at play here:’’
and so all we gain by turning over and mag-
nifying our cares is a weary head and a deso-
late heart. We will not go to God, though
He graciously invites us to cast our care on
Him, the Omnipotent; but, as if, like Baal of
old, He were dead or asleep, we determine to
bear our burden alone. We care not to be-

to bear it so far, then I will pray Thee to come
into my heart,—that heart which Thou hast
made; and then I will point to my heavy
load of sin and care and suffering, which is
too heavy for me to bear; and I will say to
Thee, Thou knowest all things, and ‘Thou canst
do all things, —Thou hast invited me to come
weary and heavy laden as I am, and Thou hast
promised to give me rest. I pray Thee to re-
move the heavy burden, which I can not even
lift; for though I am weak, Thou art almighty.

—— a

Love not the World.

‘When visiting a gentleman in England,”
says a pastor, ‘I observed a fine canary.
When I admired its beauty, the gentleman
replied: ‘Yes, he is beautiful, but he has lost
his voice. He used to be a fine singer, but
I was in the habit of hanging his cage out of
the window; the sparrows came around with
their incessant chirping; gradually he ceased
to sing and learned their twitter, and now all
he can do is to twitter, twitter.’ How truly
does this represent the case of many Chris-
tians! They used to delight in the songs of
Zion, but they came into close contact with
those whose notes never rise so high, until, at
last, like the canary, they do nothing but
twitter, twitter.’’

—_—+ ~ o-<a>-o >

Our Father who art in Heaven.

Dr. Martin Luther once said: ‘‘O that we
could but thoroughly understand the first
words of the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Our Father
who art in heaven.’ For if I can understand
and believe these few words, that God, who
created heaven and earth, and all creatures,
and holds them in His hand, is my Father, I
can with all certainty conclude that I myself
am also a lord of heaven and earth. Again,
that Christ is my brother and all is mine, that
Gabriel must be my servant, and Raphael my
coachman, and all the angels my help in dan-
ger and need, as they are sent to me by my
heavenly Father; that they should guide me
on my way that I may not dash my foot
against a stone.”’