Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 10:12-15

12 And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy:

13 And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons’ due, of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire: for so I am commanded.

14 And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons’ due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel.

15 The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thine, and thy sons’ with thee, by a statute for ever; as the Lord hath commanded.

Moses gave Aaron and his sons some instructions on eating their portion of the sacrifices. Some of this information we already knew, and some of it is new. First, they were told that the portion of the meat offering that fell to them was required to be eaten in the tabernacle courtyard, beside the altar. As we have already seen, the priests eating their portion was not only a privilege, but an obligation, a part of the ritual itself, and with strict guidelines as to how it could be performed.

Their portion for the wave breast and heave shoulder had a different set of instructions, though. As a reminder, the wave and heave offerings were separate from the meat offerings, first introduced to us in connection with the peace offering. The most distinctive quality we learned earlier about the wave and heave offerings were that the offeror would also eat a portion of. It thus became a shared meal between God and offeror, a symbol of unity and peace.

But that was for the common Israelite. Today’s verses seem to be continuing the initial rituals that Aaron and his sons performed for themselves. They are not offering a wave and a heave offering for another Israelite, but on their own behalf. And this was not required to be eaten within the tabernacle courtyard beside the altar, it just needed to be eaten in a clean place. And the priests did not have to eat it alone, their families, sons and daughters, could partake of it as well. This makes it even more clear that the wave and the heave offerings were a blessing in the lives of those who made it. Other offerings may have been focused on atonement or glorification of God, but this one was about being one with God and rejoicing in that, and one’s own household could take part in that same joy.

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 9:1-4

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

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 8:1-5

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;

3 And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

4 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

5 And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done.

We heard about this event—the initial washing and anointing of Aaron and his sons—back in Exodus, but it was a very succinct description, basically just acknowledging that it did, in fact, happen. In this chapter we actually hear how the process was done, step-by-step.

Aaron and his sons may have been the first priests to officiate for the general population, but clearly Moses also had the priesthood, and he performed these rituals for the very first time, providing both the demonstration as well as the sanctification for Aaron and his sons. Only then would he hand the responsibility and duties to the priests. They would know what to do by what they had seen him do.

This calls to mind how Jethro taught Moses the principle of delegation when he was judging all the people on his own. Just as how God called and sanctified Moses to do the Lord’s work, Moses could now sanctify other servants to do the same. Obviously, any man can choose to serve God in a general way, and requires no authority to do so, but to be a representative of God, Himself, in these rituals required divine authority. This divine delegation flows down from heaven. As Jesus taught, “the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do” (John 5:19).

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 7:7-11

7 As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.

8 And the priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.

9 And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it.

10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.

11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord.

These verses repeat that the priests would eat their portion as part of the sin and meat offerings. It is new information at this point that the priests would also take part of the burnt offering, specifically the skin. While we do make food from the skin of some animals today, it does not seem likely that the priests would eat this portion. Notice that it says the priest is to “have it to himself,” suggesting that it became a possession. The skins would likely have been made into leather and crafted, or sold for money.

It does seem strange that we are finding out details of each sacrifice in such a piecemeal fashion. Why not hear everything about a burnt offering in one set of instructions, rather than getting one part here and one part there? Personally, I think it doubtful that the original instructions were so fractured. We have already seen elsewhere that the books of Moses seem to be composited together from multiple separate accounts, and I assume that that is what is happening here also.

That being said, the fractured form that we see in the Bible today is not a bad analogy for the experience of anyone seeking truth. Typically, principles and doctrine are not appreciable in their entirety all at once. We have to learn progressively, “line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). From many sources and lessons, we accumulate a coherent model of God and His truths, rather than receiving it whole at once. Again, I don’t necessarily think this was an intended symbol, but it is fitting, nonetheless.

Burnt offeringGiving our life to God’s purposes
Ram, BullockMale, without blemishGive our very best
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Slaughtered on the NorthRecommitment on the side of our journey
Blood sprinkled around altarOur life is sprinkled over God’s work
Cut in pieces, and washedEach part of us measured and made clean
Skin given to priestsOuter behavior that supports the mission of God
Pigeon, TurtledoveCrop pulled off, torn nearly in halfEach inner part of us exposed to God’s purifying fire
The whole thing burned on the altarOur lives consumed in service to God
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 6:19-23

19 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

20 This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.

21 In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

22 And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the Lord; it shall be wholly burnt.

23 For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.

In addition to the burnt offering of a lamb, once every night and once every morning, there was also to be a meat offering of flour every night and morning. The flour was to be baked first, then burned as a bread or a wafer until fully consumed.

We have already heard that when the meat offering was from a common Israelite, there was a portion given to the priests. But since the meat offering described here was from the priests themselves, there was no portion for them, and all of it was given to the Lord. There can be seen in this a hierarchy, a flow, moving upwards and ultimately finding its destination in God. Just as God is the originator of all things, He is the terminus of all things as well.

All of our creations stem from the first creation made by God. And all of our sacrifices ultimately find their rest in Him. We come and go as links in a chain. At the beginning of the chain is a post, and at the end of the chain is a post, and both posts are God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 6:16-18

16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.

17 It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.

18 All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.

We have heard a few times already of the priests eating a portion of the offering. I have described this as God sharing His bounty with His servants, them being able to partake in the fruit of His kingdom. I do believe that is a main meaning of this symbol, but perhaps there are other representations we can find in it as well.

One thing that stands out this time is the specification that the meat offering had to be eaten in the holy place, meaning within the tabernacle courtyard. The priests had their own homes and families and lives outside of their ritual duties, but this offering was not meant for them to take home and eat there. It was not just provisions. The priests eating it was actually a part of the ritual itself. It was as much an obligation of the priests as it was a privilege. That which the offeror gave had to be consumed, whether by flame or by mouth, and the priest was responsible to ensure that that occurred.

Given that perspective, another representation in the priests eating of the meat offering emerges. Remember that this offering was a celebratory one, given as a show of gratitude and thanks for God’s blessings. That show of thanks had two destinations, one was purely to give glory and memorial to God, the other was to nourish and sustain God’s servants. We see in this dual consumption the proper channels for our abundance. If I am greatly increased by God in my life, I should return some of that back to Him, and some of it I should pay forward to my fellow man.

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.