Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/208

 sacrifices were  bloody,  others  unbloody. The former  consisted  of sheep,  goats  and  oxen  without  blemish;  the  latter  of  flour,  fruits, oil and  wine. When the  thing  offered  was  wholly  consumed  on  the altar, it  was  called  a holocaust  or  whole-burnt  offering,  and  represented the  highest  act  of  adoration. But when  only  the  fat,  as the  most  delicate  part,  was  burned,  and  the  rest  eaten,  it  was  called either a sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  for  benefits  received,  or  a sacrifice of expiation  for  sins  committed. The latter  is  also  called  a sin-offering  or  simply  a sin.

Moses also  instituted  the  feasts  of  the  Lord; for  the  Lord  had told him  to  establish,  first,  the  Feast  of  the  Pasch  or  Passover,  in memory  of  the  paschal  lamb,  eaten  by  the  children  of  Israel  on  the night  when  the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians  were  slain,  and  also  in memory  of  their  deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage. For seven  days they were  to  eat  unleavened  bread  while  celebrating  that  feast.

Secondly, they  were  to  keep  holy,  seven  weeks  after,  the  Feast of Pentecost,  in  remembrance  of  the  law  given  them  on  Mount Sinai. On that  day  they  were  to  bring  the  first-fruits  of  their harvest as  an  offering  to  the  Lord. Thirdly, when  the  harvest was all  gathered  in,  they  were  to  solemnize  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles, during  which  they  were  to  take  branches  of  trees  and  build  tents, and dwell  in  them,  so  that  their  descendants  might  learn  how  the