Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 4:1-4

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:

3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.

4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the Lord.

This chapter is dedicated to the ritual of the sin offering, something that we already heard of in Exodus, from which we have populated the table down below. The account here in Leviticus 4 confirms what we already heard in Exodus, though here it is given in longer detail.

The sin offering is arguably the most foundational of all the offerings. Sin is the greatest and most universal obstacle of all humanity. It is sin that divides us from peace, more than any affliction, misfortune, or disaster. In fact, the universality of sin is pointed out in verse 3, which reminds us that even the priest who had been set apart to be the holy servant of the Lord, would be besmirched by it and would require restitution, the same as any other Israelite.

Even our priests and vessels of purification require purification themselves. Our cleaning agents need cleaning. This shows a pattern of regress and suggests to us that there must be an endpoint somewhere. Sooner or later, for any of this purification to have any effect, it must be founded upon a purifier who is himself never soiled. The offering of Jesus, who was the perfect High Priest, would sanctify the entire temple enterprise, which would sanctify the priests and vessels, which would sanctify the common Israelite.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Sin offeringBullockSacrifice for sin
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Blood placed on horns of the altarA heartfelt plea to the Lord for mercy
Fat and kidneys burned on altarCleansing our behavior and desire
Skin, dung, and flesh burned beyond the campThe sinful behavior purged out of us

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:8-10

8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the Lord: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar.

9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

10 And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

Here we read how part of the offering was burned unto the Lord, but then all the remainder was given to Aaron and his sons, the priest class, being their portion and reward from the Lord. Today, we do not have a specific tribe of priests separate from the rest of us, rather each worthy man may volunteer to administer in the Lord’s rituals, whatever his heritage. And even more broadly, every man, woman, and child may volunteer to assist in the work of the Lord, spreading His kingdom in many different ways. To us who take part in His labor, I can only assume that the same promise made to the Israelite priests applies to us, that we will receive a portion of the Lord’s own.

And that is not only for this life, but more importantly, for life in the eternities. Remember that Jesus promised his disciples they would be given things from their Father for both their earthly needs and for their heavenly reward. The same, I believe, is true for us. At least, it is if we first adopt the burdens and responsibilities of our Lord.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings
Separate ingredients burned on altarBody, spirit, and prayer uniting in gratitude
Ingredients baked into unleavened cakesDevotion to God’s law, unsullied by pagan practices
Portion given to priestsGod’s treasures shared with us

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:1

1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:

At first glance, there are some similarities between the meat offering and the consecration offering that we heard of in Exodus. Both involved making a sacrifice where a portion of it was burned on the altar to the Lord, and another portion was given to the priests. But these are not the same offering, and there are some key differences to be noted.

The first is who made each offering. For the consecration offering, it was made by the priests themselves, to consecrate a new priest to his work. The meat offering was made by everyday Israelites, those not of the priest class, for the purpose of giving thanks.

Unlike other offerings, the meat offering was entirely voluntary. Israelites would bring them when they felt very blessed by the Lord’s bounty, so much so that they wanted to bring a gift of thanks. Perhaps they secured a good contract, or received a bounteous crop, or had a good rainfall, or secured a marriage betrothal. They would signify their awareness that this was a blessing from God by bringing an offering to the altar. It was as if to say, “you have blessed me, and even more than I need, so here is a part of it returned back to you.” And because it was presented as a gift to God, and God shares His gifts with His servants, those priests would receive a portion of it also.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Continuing With Leviticus

Just over six months ago I finished my study of Exodus. At the time, I said I was going to share some essays and small thoughts. I estimated this would go for a couple weeks, which was clearly a great underestimation! I think part of why I spent so much longer exploring other topics is the rapid and dramatic changes that have been happening world, prompting me to delve into the spiritual questions I saw attached to those changes.

Now, though, I do want to get back to my scripture study. As before, I intend to cover a small batch of verses at a time, going chapter-by-chapter through the entire book of Leviticus. I’m sure that I will periodically do one-off studies in between chapters as well, whenever a particular question or thought is weighing on me.

You can go back to read my full summary of Exodus, but I’ll take just a moment here to re-establish context.

Genesis was dedicated to laying the core patterns of the world, distilling eternal truths in legendary and dramatic manifestations. Exodus was the bridge from the supernatural world to the natural, bringing those core patterns to everyday existence.

Of course, Exodus still had its fair share of miracles and supernatural wonders, but it also made the way that people related to the Lord ritualistic and common. We followed an everyday people who passed through relatable phases of tragedy, rebellion, and repentance. The book concluded with them finally being ready to enter covenant with the Lord, and to receive Him in their midst via the tabernacle and regular, daily ritual. That tabernacle and all of its instruments were made at the end of the book, and the Lord accepted it all.

Now, in Leviticus, we will hear in greater detail all the laws and rituals of that tabernacle. We will hear all the different sacrifices to be made, and when they need to be done, and in what way. This book is therefore a narrower slice of the word of God, a sort of instruction manual for priests. We, of course, will look for the symbolism in every instruction and ritual, to see how it points to each of us in our daily lives.

I hope to see you tomorrow when we begin.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 40:12-16

12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.

13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

14 And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:

15 And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.

16 Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he.

As the final step of preparation, Aaron and his sons would be dressed, anointed, and sanctified. These were the priests that God had chosen, and they had to be prepared in just the same manner as all the other elements of the tabernacle. This suggests that they are as much a part of the place as every altar and curtain. Living vessels for the Lord.

Verse 15 is the first time that we see the word “priesthood” in the KJV Bible, though the Hebrew word that is derived from, כְּהֻנָּה (kehunnah), appeared once before in Exodus 29:9, where it was rendered as “the priest’s office.” At different times, God called different categories of men to bear the priesthood, but always men. This may not actually mean anything, but it interesting to note that nouns are gendered in Hebrew, and “priesthood,” as well as most other abstract nouns, is feminine.

This may simply be a coincidence of linguistics, or perhaps the language was formed around the cosmological perception of the people who used it. Perhaps the abstract and conceptual was seen as the domain of the divine feminine, and the calling of men to it was a deliberate unification of the feminine to the masculine. Perhaps the ancient Hebrew view was that the man represented the concretization of the abstract. That the priesthood had both a feminine and masculine side, feminine in its unseen authority and masculine in the priest that utilized it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 30:20-21

20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord:

21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

These verses confirm that the laver was to be used to wash the priests as they moved from the courtyard into the tabernacle. The courtyard had no roof, and was therefore open to the world, taking on its regular dust and debris. Going into the tabernacle would separate one from the world, bringing the priest to a clean and holy place. As such, he would have to wash off the dust of the world and leave it behind him.

And so it is for us disciples. Even if we strive to live as good and decent of a life as possible, we still accrue the dust of the world. Even when we do not sin, we are depressed by the stories of cruelty in the world, we are heartbroken by the suffering of an ill family member, and we are hurt by the betrayal of another. None of these things make us guilty, but like the dust of the earth they cloud and obscure our light. They can get in the way of us feeling the love of God, dividing us from Him just the same.

Thus, from time to time, we need to wash the dust off our feet. We need to regularly go to our holy places, set down our burdens at the door, and let God renew us. This isn’t just good to do, it is necessary. If we cannot find refuge from the debris of this world it will accumulate and weigh us down until it drags us down to hell with it. God made this abundantly clear when He said that the priests must wash the dirt off “that they die not!”

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 29:32-34

32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

“If any portion remains” suggests that the Lord would provide for the priests even to the point of overflowing. Those that dedicate their lives to the Lord will receive as much blessing as they can receive, and the rest will have to be let go simply because there is no more room for it. Excess blessing was not to go to another unsanctified, though, but returned back to the Lord by the fire. This seems to suggest that God has blessings enough for everyone, without having to balance the load lest He run out.

Thus, in this offering ritual we see that the life of the disciple is defined on the one hand by sacrifice and surrender to the Lord, and blessing and providence on the other. One would think that sacrifice would cause want, but thanks to divine intervention, it would actually yield surplus.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 29:29-30

29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.

30 And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.

We have a brief parenthetical here, which reiterates that Aaron and his descendants would make up the priest class, the only ones that could be consecrated to stand before the Lord.

What it says about putting the garments on the priests for seven days is explained further in the following verses of this chapter. Apparently, the offering of a bullock, two rams, and the various breads would be repeated over a period of seven days.

Presumably, this sort of repetition would impress the symbolic lessons deeper and deeper in the mind of the priest. It also signifies how we strengthen our commitment to the Lord by degrees, reaching greater and greater levels of discipleship as we go. Finally, there is a special significance to the number seven, suggesting fulfillment and completion. For example, seven days was the full measure of the creation of the Earth, and Naaman was commanded to bathe himself in the river Jordan seven times to be healed. Through a full measure of repeated consecration, the priest would be ready by-and-by to perform his holy duties.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 29:22-28

22 Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:

23 And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord:

24 And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

25 And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the Lord: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

26 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord: and it shall be thy part.

27 And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:

28 And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the Lord.

After the sprinkling of blood, the best parts of the ram would be placed in the hands of the priest, as well as a bread, a cake, and a wafer, and they would be waved in the air. At the same time, there was also a heave offering, which is not described, but mentioned in retrospect by verse 27. The right shoulder was apparently held by the priest and heaved upward.

It also says in verse 25 that all of these items were placed upon the altar and burned for a sweet savor to the Lord, though in verses 26-28 it sounds instead like these parts were given to the priests for their allowance of food. So were the items burned on the altar, or given to the priests? I can see two possibilities:

  1. The “receive them” in verse 25 is not calling for the totality of the wave and heave offering. Perhaps only the fat, caul, and kidneys were burned upon the altar, while the breast and shoulder and breads were left for the priests.
  2. All of this first offering, which was meant for the sanctification of Aaron and his sons, was burned upon the altar, but every heave and wave offering thereafter would be given to the priests.

With either interpretation, this offering seems to be establishing the unity between God and the priest. Because the priest went through the rituals of giving up his sins, dedicating his life to the good, and receive the purification of the anointing oil and blood, now the Lord will share from His own altar with the priest. Now that the disciple has been sanctified, he is invited to share in the meal that is laid on God’s table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 29:10-14

10 And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

11 And thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.

14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

After being properly dressed, washed, and anointed, the priests were further prepared by sacrificial ritual. First came the bullock, which we hear in verse 14 was being offered up as a sin offering. This was for the priests to make atonement for all that they had done wrong. Like the rest of us, each of them had violated the ideal at one point or another. They had pursued self over others, they had betrayed their own consciences, they had entered misalignment with truth.

The symbolism of having the priests place their hands on the head of the bullock is clear. This placing of the hands upon the head is repeated with just about every sacrifice and is a clear representation of the animal being made to stand in place of the person. The people are choosing the animal as their representative, and witness as it receives the punishment in their place. That punishment is death, because “the wages of sin is death.”

It is worth noting, the laying on of hands is also a common practice when a disciple is ordained to a particular responsibility in the church. This makes sense, as once again that person is being selected to stand in for the other people, to make a sacrifice of his time to do the responsibilities in place of all the others.

Let us consider the meaning of what is done to the separate parts of the bullock. First, its blood is placed upon the horns of the altar. Later in the Bible we hear how the guilty would cling to these horns when seeking mercy for their wrongs, so perhaps the blood upon them represented coming to the Lord in desperation and moral anguish, casting yourself upon His mercy.

Then, the fat and the kidneys are burned upon the altars. The significance of giving the fat to the altar should be immediately clear. It was giving one’s passions, one’s indulgence, one’s reserve of energy to the Lord. No longer would the repentant give his indulgence to his carnal appetites, but to His maker.

Then, all of the bad parts: the skin and the dung, and also the very flesh of the beast, were burned without the camp. This means exiling the sin and the self, taking it out of the camp that it doesn’t belong in and destroying it. From this point on the sinner is not to be those parts anymore.

And so, atonement for sin is made. The old man of sin is destroyed, his passion and energy are dedicated to the Lord, and he casts himself upon God’s mercy. This is the same offering that we all spend our entire lives making over and over again.