Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 9:23-24

23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.

24 And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

Here we have the only private moment in the ritual, where Moses and Aaron enter into the tabernacle and disappear from the view of all of Israel. Not only was it not seen what transpired in there, it isn’t described in the instructions given to Moses for this moment. At the very least, it seems likely that Moses and Aaron would have gone through the inner-tabernacle rituals, such as lighting the lamps, burning incense, arranging the shewbread, and sprinkling blood. Did Aaron also commune with God directly? Did he speak with God face to face, as Moses had? We do not know. This moment has been kept private from all the world, just as our most sacred moments are typically kept private.

We do know that after they emerged, God responded in a grand show of divine approval. A heavenly flame went forth and consumed the offerings upon the altar. A few chapters ago we heard that the flame of the altar was never to go out. Fresh fuel had to be added to it in perpetuity. It seems that the flame that they had to keep burning was this same divine flame! This is obviously symbolic of the divine flame that lives in each of us, put in us by the grace of Christ, but which must be regularly nourished.

The significance of this miraculous flame is clear. When the Israelites had finished the construction of the tabernacle, the cloud of the Lord covered it and His presence claimed and accepted it. But that had just been the acceptance of the physical structure. Now God is accepting the priests and their labor. Thus, the body of the tabernacle and its soul are deemed acceptable to the Lord, and what transpired there would be imbued with His authority.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 9:15-22

15 And he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin, as the first.

16 And he brought the burnt offering, and offered it according to the manner.

17 And he brought the meat offering, and took an handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning.

18 He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about,

19 And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver:

20 And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar:

21 And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord; as Moses commanded.

22 And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.

In the last section Aaron performed the offerings for himself, with the help of his sons, and next he performed the offerings for the general population of Israel. Once again, his sons assisted by presenting the blood for sprinkling. Now, at last, everyone had been sanctified. Everyone had been committed to the Lord.

Admittedly, Moses was perhaps an outlier in this moment. I suppose he could be considered part of the body of Israel, a subject of this general offering that Aaron just completed. On the other hand, we could definitely say that his sanctification and purification had already transpired during one of his visits to the mountain. He did appear once with a shining face after all, which sounds pretty sanctified! Thus, by one way or another, Moses, Aaron, the priests, and all the Israelites were now one in God.

Aaron commemorated this moment by pronouncing a blessing upon the people. We do not read the words that he said, but this further shows the fatherly relationship he had to the great Israelite family.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 9:8-14

8 Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.

9 And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:

10 But the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar; as the Lord commanded Moses.

11 And the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire without the camp.

12 And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the altar.

13 And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head: and he burnt them upon the altar.

14 And he did wash the inwards and the legs, and burnt them upon the burnt offering on the altar.

Aaron performed the sin and burnt offering for himself, but his sons did help slightly by presenting the blood of the animals to him so that he could sprinkle and spread it. This once again continues the pattern of hierarchy, training, and downward distribution of authority for the priest class.

But that is not all. By having even but one step of the ritual performed by Aaron’s sons, it was made clear that not even the High Priest could fully administer to himself. Man cannot clean himself, not wholly. He must be served by another for that, even if only for the washing of his feet. Yes, he may be a vessel to administer in the cleaning of others, but that only makes him a facilitator, not a causer. It was sacrifice and blood, ultimately of Jesus, and symbolically of the animal, that did the actual cleaning, and it was only distributed by the works of the priest.

Today, too, we must remain humble and recognize that on our own we are nothing. We might be the mouth that convicts of sin, the hands that command illness to leave, or the heart that shares forgiveness. But we are not the essence of conviction, healing, or mercy. They merely pass through us to others, and through others to us.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 9:5-7

5 And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord.

6 And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you.

7 And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the Lord commanded.

The people had been witnesses to the glory of God before, and in verse 6 Moses promises that they will be yet again, just as soon as Aaron has fulfilled his first priestly duties. The last time that we heard of them beholding the glory of the Lord was when they had finished the construction of the tabernacle. That had been a manifestation to the people of the Lord’s acceptance of the place, when the glory of the Lord comes again it will signify the Lord’s acceptance of the work performed therein.

This would be a key element of the Israelite faith moving forward. Miracles were shown so that those who observed them could provide testimony, could tell their children and their grandchildren that they truly knew that God was in the rituals of the tabernacle, that it was the method that He had chosen and show divine approval for. Presumably, most generations of the ancient Israelites did not get to see such signs, just as signs are rarer among us today. But the initial signs are made, and the testimony tradition begun, and history has shown that this can be enough for the pattern of faith to continue. For those that live to see signs, there is the obligation to testify of them. For those that do not, there is the obligation to believe that testimony.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 9:1-4

1 And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel;

2 And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.

3 And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering;

4 Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the Lord will appear unto you.

For seven days, Aaron had watched Moses performing the rituals and sacrifices of the tabernacle, but now it is a new week, a new beginning. and Aaron is going to start performing in his office as the high priest now. And then, after Aaron has performed his duties as the high priest, his sons, the regular priests, will began functioning in their roles also. From God to Moses to Aaron to his sons. From God to prophet to family patriarch to children. This is the pattern that is established.

But who was Aaron to perform the ritual for? Two parties, actually. In verse 2, we learn he is to bring offerings for himself and in verse 3 we learn he is to receive offerings from all of Israel. This establishes another important principle of the patriarchal order mentioned above: it is not merely about the downward flow of power and authority, but the upward flow of guilt and responsibility for sin. Indeed, the former only comes hand-in-hand with the latter. There is no authority without burden. The authority is for the addressing of that burden.

Aaron was being called to be the father of Israel, and that meant that in addition to managing his own sanctity before the Lord, he must manage that of all the children also. Paul made this same notion very clear when he compared the responsibility of husbands to that of Christ in Ephesians 5. Of course, none of this is meant to deny the free will of those who are under the patriarch. The Israelites could choose not to bring their offerings to the tabernacle, and the wife and children can choose not to follow the counsel of the father, and grace must be accounted for those fathers and high priests who can answer a full tally to the Lord. None of that changes the pattern that God has established for authority and responsibility, though. Once again, it is a loop that finds Christ at each end. The authority flows down from Christ, and the responsibility comes back up to him. He will ultimately answer for any missing souls, and he will empower the rescue of all that are willing to be found.

Posted on by Abe Austin

A Choice of Integrity

A choice of integrity is a choice that I can live with for the long term and not hurt my conscience. If I am making a choice that I am willing to tolerate only for a time, but could not abide by permanently, then it is likely not a choice that I am making in integrity.

That is not to say that there cannot be changes of situation or perspective. It is possible to make one choice in integrity, and then with integrity change it afterward. It is also possible to recognize that one is entering a special season in life, and posture oneself accordingly, with the up-front understanding that after the season is over things will change.

But if from the outset I make a choice with the hope and expectation that those around me will change so that I do not have to abide by that choice any longer, then I have started without integrity. I am looking for outside sources to rescue me from my own decision, and that means I am making a violation against myself. I should not count on outside situations or people to change. I should ask myself what I would do from my conscience if they never changed, and the answer to that question is the choice of integrity.

Posted on by Abe Austin

False Agendas

Justified Suffering)

An ideology predicated upon a lie is perhaps the most destructive force in the world. More than nuclear weapons, more than natural disasters, a false agenda that takes hold will fracture an entire society, kill millions of innocents, and leave the survivors in disarray.

The danger of a misaligned belief system is our innate understanding that suffering is justified for the greater good. Under normal conditions, this instinct is a wonderful good, a necessity for overcoming the evil of the world. Being able to stand up for what is right, no matter the cost, has seen the end of slavery, the birth of liberty, and the restoration of spiritual truth.

But now see how that virtue is twisted when applied to a false cause. Because the cause is false, meaning it is contrary to what is true and right, it will inevitably tear large gashes into society as it is pushed forward. But because it has already been decided to be the right thing to do, the painful consequences are excused as the necessary cost for progress. Thus, we gravely wound our society, and don’t even end up getting something good out of it!

An Example)

Perhaps the most recent example of this in western culture has been the feminist movement. First, the ideology was established by the twisting of a truth. It was correctly noted that men and women are created equal, sharing the same promise in Christ, exactly as taught by Paul:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:28-29

But then the metrics of equality were dragged down to earthly standards. First, the stations of men were inappropriately exalted. Leadership offices were seen as positions of power, not of service and obligation. The making of money and acquiring of fame became markers of success, rather than the creation and cultivation of the family.

Next, it became the agenda that women should be elevated to the same levels of power idolatry as men. It became the “greater good,” worthy of inflicting damage and suffering to achieve it. Ever since, we have paid the terrible costs of the family system being completely deconstructed, men and women competing as enemies to one another, the cratering of the birth rate, the collapse of civil society, and the murder of millions of unborn children! We have suffered all of this, and all to gain progress in a false agenda!

The Wrong Solution)

This is worse than short-term gains for long-term losses, for there aren’t even the short-term gains! What we should have done is re-established the notion of servant leadership demonstrated by our Savior, eschewed the temptations of fame and fortune, and preserved the cooperative union of men and women as intended by God.

Now things are twisted, hurting, and many more false beliefs have been sown in the cracks of our society. The potential for continued false agendas, which further push suffering and confusion on the world, is great. The path back to genuine truth and healing is growing smaller and harder by the day. If we are not at that point already, soon only an act of God will be able to get us back to what is right. Thank heaven that acts of God remain the one thing we can always rely on!

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Best Lessons Must be Painful

The best lessons in life must be painful, because the best lessons require us to change. If they didn’t require us to change, they couldn’t be as meaningful as those that did. And to change means, to some degree, breaking and rebuilding. And breaking and rebuilding is painful.

So, if we are going through lessons that are painful, but which are causing us to change, it’s not that we are doing something wrong, we’re actually doing it exactly right. It’s just that growth is hard. That change is painful. It always has been this way, and it always will be.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Artificial Lights

We live in a world of artificial lights. They have become so ubiquitous that we can hardly fathom life without them. Some live every day with hardly any exposure to the sun at all. They do not need it. And all is well…so long as the lights stay on.

But one day, the electricity will be cut, and it will not come back on. And then we will remember the horror of the dark, and why we never outgrew the need for the sun.