Course 1, Chapter 29

The Messiah promised and prefigured. — Tenth and eleventh figures of the Messiah. — The sacrifice and brazen serpent. (A. C. 1451.)

1. Where did God give his law to the Israelites?

God gave his law to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. This law, given by the ministry of Moses, is called the written law. It was not new; because the first men believed the truths it contained.

2. How did God give his law?

The ancient law was a law of fear; God gave it in the midst of an appalling spectacle; all the mountain was covered with a thick cloud, from which issued forth thunder and lightning.

3. What did Moses do after he had given the Israelites the law of the Lord?

*After having given the law to the Israelites, Moses confirmed it by sacrifices. The sacrifices which Moses offered to confirm the law of the Lord, as well as all the other sacrifices of the ancient law, were figure s °f ne sacrifice of Christ.

90 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

4. How do you show this?

After having- published the law, Moses sprinkled blood over all the people; our Lord, after having; preached the Gospel, gave his adorable blood to his apostles. Moses, in sprinkling the blood of the victim over the people, used these words: This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you. Our Lord, in giving his blood to his apostles, pronounced these words: This is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many.

5. Continue.

The sacrifices of the ancient law were bloody and unbloody; the sacrifice of our Lord was offered up in a bloody manner on the cross, and is still offered in an unbloody manner on the altar. The sacrifices of the ancient law were offered up for four ends, viz: to adore, to thank, to ask and to expiate; the sacrifice of our Lord is offered up for the same four ends. Thus the sacrifices of the ancient law are truly the tenth figure of our Lord.

6. What is the eleventh?

The eleventh figure of our Lord is the brazen serpent. The guilty Hebrews were bitten by serpents, which caused their death. The human race, guilty in the person of Adam, has been bitten by the infernal serpent, which produces death. The Lord caused a brazen serpent to be made and put in a conspicuous place; our Lord became man, and was elevated on the cross. Those who looked on the brazen serpent were cured of their wounds; they who look on our Lord with faith and love are cured of the wounds inflicted by the infernal serpent. Nothing but the sight of the brazen serpent could cure the bite of the serpents; nothing but faith and lore of our Lord can cure the wounds which the devil inflicts on our souls.*