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.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:31-36

31 And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.

32 And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire.

33 And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.

34 As he hath done this day, so the Lord hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you.

35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.

36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

Presumably the instruction for Aaron and his sons eat their sacrifice portion at the door of the tabernacle is so that all of gathered Israel may be witness to the proper fulfillment of God’s command. We do not hear this being a requirement for general rituals, but at least now the Israelites would have the image in their mind of what transpires even on the times when they don’t see it.

Another thing that is unique about this initial performance of the rituals was the requirement for the priests to remain in the tabernacle for seven days, apparently on peril of death! Once Aaron and his sons had begun their consecration to the Lord, they were not to abandon the process half done. This cleansing and consecration ritual was a week-long process, one that entailed new sacrifices on each of the seven days.

Jesus pointed out in Luke 14:28-30, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”

So it was for the tabernacle priests. They were informed beforehand what “the cost” of being a priest was. They knew what rituals would be required, what commitments, and what restrictions. It was a good thing to be a priest, but not if they didn’t accept the cost of it. So it is for each of us as modern disciples. We have been told “the cost,” meaning the duties, the commitments, and the restrictions of bearing the name of Christ. It is a good thing to taken on his name, but not if we don’t accept that cost.

We will see in two chapters how two of Aaron’s sons did not meet the requirements of their station, defied the commandments that they had pledged to, and were destroyed because of it. We should assume no less serious of an outcome when we violate our covenants as well. We may not see such a dramatic event as being consumed by a ball of fire but never forget that even greater than the death of the body is the death of the soul.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:25-29

25 And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right shoulder:

26 And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat, and upon the right shoulder:

27 And he put all upon Aaron’s hands, and upon his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord.

28 And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering: they were consecrations for a sweet savour: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

29 And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord: for of the ram of consecration it was Moses’ part; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Once again, we see how in this initiation of Aaron and his sons, Moses is the officiator of the offering. They are not picking up the bread and the meat themselves; Moses is placing those into their hands. They are not the ones receiving the priestly portion of the food, Moses is. In tomorrow’s verses we will hear how Aaron and his sons partook of the food as well, but that will not be the priest’s portion, it will be the same part that was given to the common Israelite when they made their offering. There was the priest’s part, but there was also the common part, and that was the common part that was meant for Aaron this time around.

Having Aaron and his sons go through all these rituals from the perspective of the common Israelite demonstrates an important pattern. Now, whenever Aaron and his sons performed such rituals for the common Israelite, he would only be repeating what Moses had previously done for him. Thus, it is a pattern of those who have been helped in their journey, then helping the next person in theirs.

All true proselyting efforts are conducted by sinners who themselves found redemption, now showing other sinners that the same is possible for them also. Christ begins the pattern by redeems us, then invites us to join him on his side and help him initiate the next generation in the same process. It is a beautiful chain of being served and serving, where we all depend on and support one another.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:22-24, 30

22 And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

23 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

24 And he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

30 And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.

Today we move from the burnt offering to the consecration offering, the one that brings Aaron and his sons into oneness and unity with God. I included for this section all of the verses that have to do with the blood of the sacrifice, and how it was smeared upon the ear, thumb, and large toe of each priest, and then mixed with oil and sprinkled on their garments. When we previously heard about this ritual, I didn’t have much to say about the placement of the blood on the parts of the body. When I started my study of Leviticus and put together my table of sacrifice symbolism, I reconsidered the gesture and saw it as a symbol of receiving God’s word (ear), work (thumb), and path (toe).

I still think that is a good interpretation. In addition, I thought about it a bit more today, and specifically about the final result after all the applications of blood to the priest. By the end of the ritual, the priest must have been a shocking sight! Finger, toe, and ear dipped in blood, and flecks of blood all across his clothing. In this I see a symbol for the priestly duty being messy work. We have heard much of his cleansing and his purification, but it is all so that he can go into the sin, the drama, and the dirty details of the sinner who brings his offering to the Lord. The priest is not to be a distant observer to the common Israelite’s repentance process, he is to be a roll-up-your-sleeves and get right into it participant. It is the same with Jehovah, who came into the darkest part of the world, was covered in blood, and bore all the messy stains of humanity. Christ, himself, was clean, but he was covered in our filth.

This is the sobering and sacred reality of being a part of the Lord’s work. God works with the sinners, with the awkward, and with the wounded. So must we as well. While we look to maintain our inner cleanliness, we do get ourselves involved in other’s dirtiness so we can help them work through their sins and problems and bring them somewhere better.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:18-21

18 And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

19 And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

20 And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat.

21 And he washed the inwards and the legs in water; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, and an offering made by fire unto the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses.

In our last post we had the sin offering as part of the consecration process of Aaron and his sons and priests, and today it is immediately followed by the burnt offering. Thus, the spiritual sequence for the priests was to first give up their sinful ways, and then to give their lives to God. Tomorrow will move on to the consecration offering, which completes the journey, and represents oneness and unity with God. That is the entire gospel journey in three simple steps.

And notice, that even though these rituals have been fulfilled in Christ, the underlying path still remains the same. Repentance for sin, surrender of self, and unity with God are still the path of discipleship even today. Not one jot or tittle has passed, only the manner in which we interface with that underlying pattern.

The ancient Israelites were not a people so different as we might think. We have more in common with them than not. And, most importantly, at the fundamental level we are identical. Just like them, we still are afflicted by sin. We still struggle to surrender our will to God. We still suffer from separation from the Almighty. We still need sacrifice, surrender, and grace to overcome those challenges. We are still God’s children, and He is still our Father. The path for us to follow has always been there, unchanged. The unique details of modern life are but surface periphery, meaningless vapor in the wind, while He remains a constant through it all.

Posted on by Abe Austin · 2 Comments

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:14-17

14 And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.

15 And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.

16 And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar.

17 But the bullock, and his hide, his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire without the camp; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Now that the priests are washed and anointed, Moses begins a series of sacrifices. Each one of these represents a different aspect, a sequence to make Aaron and his sons ready for their sacred call. The first, unsurprisingly, is the sin offering. As we have seen, this was an atonement for sins committed, a purging of the baser things, a returning to that which was obedient and godly.

Very often we seem to think of atonement for sin as the end of the journey to God, but in fact it is only the beginning. Or perhaps it is both a beginning and an end. It is the end of the journey of sin, but only the beginning of our walk with the Almighty.

As we will seeing in the following verses, the sin offering will be followed by further sacrifices that represent further commitments, covenants, and preparations. So it is meant to be with us. Like Aaron and his sons, our sins are atoned for so that we may then do something with that clean slate. We are forgiven, so that we may become the hands of the Lord. All who accept the cleansing blood of Christ are given a calling. Something that is unique, something that is specially chosen for them by the Lord. To not listen for that calling, or to not answer it, is to deny the true nature of our relationship with God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:10-13

10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.

11 And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.

12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Yesterday I mentioned how the priestly clothes are part of the clothes-as-a-symbol category, something that we have everyday experience with whenever we get dressed. We also heard previously about the priests being washed, which is also something we are quite familiar with, given our practice of showering and bathing. Being anointed with oil is not so familiar, though. We don’t typically put oil on our bodies as part of our regular everyday lives. It can still be found in some religious and royal ceremonies, and in some herbal/natural remedies, but seeing someone applying oil to the body does not feel immediately familiar today.

But it would have been immediately familiar to the ancient Israelite. In the time of Moses, oil was used on the body for a great many things. It was used in the care and treatment of hair, in the moisturizing of the skin, and in the soothing of wounds. Seeing the priests being anointed with special oil would be like us seeing someone christened with sacred shampoo, or lotion, or Neosporin. Just like the Israelite, we would be reminded of our own everyday experiences of healing, revitalizing, and nourishing. We would see that it was not replacing our bodies but adding God’s gifts to them to make them richer, softer, and healthier.

I believe the connection to everyday practices was intentional and it provided a two-way remembrance. On the one hand, the ancient Israelite would be reminded of God’s tabernacle whenever they did their every-day bathing, dressing, and hair treatment, and they would therefore have a more sober mind as they went about their business. And when they saw the priests washed, clothed, and anointed at the tabernacle it would remind them of their everyday lives, and they would know that they needed to carry the spirit of this sacred place back to their home.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 8:6-9

6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.

7 And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.

9 And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses.

We already discussed the symbolic elements for each individual piece of the priestly vesture when we first read about them in Exodus. Today let us consider the significance of clothing as a general rule. Clothing has always been a symbol for taking on an identity, for becoming someone. Wearing clothes is like putting on a second skin or entering into another person.

As pointed out in yesterday’s post, Aaron and his sons were officiating in the place of Moses, and by extension, of God. Thus, Moses was enclothing the priests with himself and with the Lord. When the priest performed in his office, personal failings or scruples with other Israelites would need to be set to the side. It wouldn’t matter what you thought of Aaron or what he thought of you, because Aaron wasn’t really the one leading you through the ritual, God was. And you were reminded of that fact by seeing Aaron in these godly clothes.

Another universal symbol of clothing is uniformity. When people wear exactly the same articles, as the priests did, that would further reinforce the notion that these were not individuals anymore. They were one and the same: God. There was no advantage to being serviced by this priest, rather than that one, because the same clothes, therefore the same identity, therefore the same God, was through it all.