SEPT 14. LEVITICUS 6-10

There are times where you just google it! Leviticus 6-9 is about eating the offerings described in Leviticus 1-5. AI:

Animal offerings in Leviticus were disposed of by burning them on the altar, giving portions to the priests to eat, or sharing them as a meal with the worshipper, depending on the specific type of sacrifice.

Here is how the five primary animal offerings described in Leviticus were handled:

1. Burnt Offering (Olah)

  • God’s portion: The entire animal (bull, sheep, goat, dove, or pigeon) was completely burned on the altar into smoke.
  • Disposal: Nothing was eaten by humans; the hide was given to the officiating priest as a fee, and the rest was consumed by fire overnight.

2. Peace Offering (Shelamim)

  • God’s portion: The fatty portions surrounding the entrails, kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver were burned on the altar.
  • Priest’s portion: The breast (wave offering) and the right thigh (contribution offering) went to the priests.
  • Worshipper’s portion: The remaining meat was eaten in a sacred communal meal by the offerer and their family at the sanctuary, usually within one to two days.

3. Sin Offering (Chatat)

  • For common people/laymen: The fatty parts were burned on the altar, and the remaining cooked meat was eaten by the male priests inside the Temple courtyard.
  • For the High Priest or the whole congregation: The fat was burned on the altar, but the entire remainder of the animal (skin, flesh, entrails) was carried and burned completely outside the camp or city in a clean place. No human ate it.

4. Guilt or Trespass Offering (Asham)

  • God’s portion: The fat portions were burned on the altar.
  • Priest’s portion: The remaining meat was considered holy and was eaten exclusively by the male priests within the sanctuary area, similar to the standard sin offering.

5. Grain Offering (Minchah)

  • Note: Though usually flour and oil, it accompanied animal drink offerings. A handful of the grain/flour mixture was burned on the altar as a memorial, and the remainder was baked and eaten by the priests.

THE REMAINS OF THE SIN OFFERING BURNED OUTSIDE THE CAMP One point about the remainder of the animal for the sin offering being carried and burned completely outside the camp.This was also the case on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16:27 But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in (by the high priest into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled on the mercy seat) to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. 28 Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp.” Hebrews 10:10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” These verses in Hebrews speak directly to the instructions in Leviticus. The Hebrew writer is writing to Jewish Christians who were leaving the Christian faith and going back to Judaism. The tabernacle and temple had a brazen altar that the sin offerings were burnt on in the courtyard of the tabernacle and temple. “We” Christians in the new covenant have an altar on which Jesus was offered and it is found outside of Judaism and the old covenant. Our altar Jesus was offered on is “outside the gates” of Judaism. Calvary where Jesus was crucified was outside the city gates of Jerusalem. Those leaving the faith have no right to eat from that Christian altar, i.e. eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus (John 6). The Hebrews writer is thus telling the Jewish Christians not to leave the faith and go back to the animal sacrifices of Judaism on the brazen altar of the temple. We must go outside the camp (i.e. Judaism) to find the altar Jesus was offered on. Jesus suffered on the cross at Calvary outside the city gates and we must be ready to suffer like He did. The faithful Jewish Christians being written to in Hebrews suffered much.

THE SIN OF NADAB AND ABIHU, AARON’S PRIESTLY SONS Leviticus 10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” AI: “They likely used ordinary or common fire instead of taking holy coals from the bronze altar of burnt offering where God’s fire burned. They acted on their own accord (“which he had not commanded them”), treating sacred rituals casually rather than with strict obedience. Their actions showed a failure to distinguish between what is holy and what is common, violating God’s standard that those who come near Him must treat Him as holy (Leviticus 10:3). Some biblical scholars suggest they may have acted carelessly or presumptuously under the influence of alcohol, which is linked to subsequent warnings about priests drinking before service (Leviticus 10:).”

This is a sad ending for Aaron’s 2 priest sons, Nadab and Abihu. These 2 sons had been given a special privilege of seeing, eating, and drinking with God at Mt Sinai. Exodus 24:Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.” In spite of that, they failed to obey God in using the correct fire offering. Can you imagine fire coming down out of heaven, striking them, and burning them to a crisp? Aaron probably watched his sons die in such a horrible way. Aaron was probably proud of his 2 son priests and now they are but ashes on the ground. We might wonder why God was so harsh over what some might call a careless mistake on their part. But God is setting an example of what happens when we disobey God and we Christians today need to take note of that. We are saved by grace so you don’t have to perfectly obey God so don’t’ use the sin of Nadab and Abihu to condemn instrumental music in worship as some have done in the past. But we should try to obey every command of God to the best of our ability. There is a lot of strange fire being offered today by Christians, fire that God did not command. The whole LGBTQ issue is a direct violation of clear commands in both the old and new covenant. The marriage bond between a man and a woman is sacred and holy and yet many are not treating it as holy. They are substituting unholy homosexual relationships and marriages that are strange fire.

THE SIN OF ELIAZAR AND ITHAMAR This is not of major importance but I never understand what Leviticus 10:12-20 was about, so I found this on gotquestions.org

“Due to the disobedience of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, the Lord caused those two men to die. Later that day, Aaron and his remaining sons allowed the sin offering to burn up. Moses was angry with Aaron’s other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, as a result. This situation is hard to understand until we take a closer look at the context and the Law in general.

For one thing, Moses had just commanded Aaron and his remaining sons to eat the offering (Leviticus 10:12–14). When he discovered they had let it burn up, he was understandably upset.

Also, the chapter opens with the death of two of Aaron’s sons: “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (Leviticus 10:1–2). Likely due to their grief over the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar chose to let the sacrifice burn up rather than to eat it. Moses was upset because this was breaking the command God had given the priest to use this offering in part as their food.

Another reason Moses was upset was probably that he feared a fate similar to that of Nadab and Abihu would befall Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar. He confronted Aaron, saying, “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? . . . You should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded” (Leviticus 10:17–18).

Aaron’s response to Moses is full of pathos: “Today my sons presented both their sin offering and their burnt offering to the LORD. And yet this tragedy has happened to me. If I had eaten the people’s sin offering on such a tragic day as this, would the LORD have been pleased?” (Leviticus 10:19, NLT). These words satisfied Moses that Aaron was living in fear and obedience to God (verse 20).”

I’m sure Aaron was very concerned about possibly losing his 2 surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar b/c they had not obeyed Moses’ command to eat the priestly portions of the offering. Was God going to burn them up also? But Moses accepted Aaron’s explanation for them not eating the portions and they were not burned. I think this says a lot of motives. Nadab and Abihu had impure motives in what they did, possibly even drinking as they did it. Apparently Elezar and Ithamar just committed a careless but understandable (due to their grief over losing their 2 brothers) act of not obeying and God and Moses overlooked it. So maybe that is a note of hope for us knowing we often commit those sins of “omission and commission”.

You might be wondering what happened to Eleazar and Ithamar after this incident in Leviticus 10. Here’s a summary.

Background and Tragedy

  • Four sons: Aaron and his wife Elisheba had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
  • Fatal mistake: Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized “strange fire” to God, and fire from the Lord consumed them.
  • No public mourning: God told Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar not to mourn the deaths so they would not die themselves.

Eleazar

  • Next high priest: Eleazar was chosen by God to succeed his father Aaron as the high priest of Israel.
  • Leadership role: He served as chief over the leaders of the Levites and helped Moses and Joshua manage the camp and divide the Promised Land.
  • Lineage: Most of the high priests in Israel’s history came from Eleazar’s family line, including Zadok.

Ithamar

  • Tabernacle manager: Ithamar, the youngest son, was put in charge of the tabernacle’s construction resources, offerings, and inventories.
  • Levite supervisor: He oversaw the Gershonite and Merarite Levites who carried the heavy parts and curtains of the tent of meeting.
  • Lineage: Later high priests, including Eli, descended from Ithamar’s family line.

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