The following is Pastor Nate’s teaching transcription from Calvary Monterey’s 9/7/21 Tuesday Night Service. We apologize for any transcription inaccuracies.

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. 3 And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” 4 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Leviticus 8:1 says, "The Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Take Aaron and his sons with him and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two Rams in the basket of unleavened bread and assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.' And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. And the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting."

Now up to this point, in the book of Leviticus, we've seen the outline of the sacrificial system, the various types of sacrifices that the people of Israel would offer. And, of course, the priests would be the one to offer the sacrifices directly to God on behalf of the people. The priests would also, in addition to offering sacrifices, pray for the people, offer blessings to the people. They would mediate between God and man. They would represent the people before God every day. They would also teach the people God's dictates, God's word, what is clean and unclean. And of course, they would maintain the elements of the sanctuary, whatever needed upkeeping in order to continue on, in the worship of the Lord, the priests were ultimately responsible for.

Leviticus 8

Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

But at this point, in the book of Leviticus, the tabernacle has been built. God has instructed them on each individual sacrifice. The priests and their garments have been set aside. But the priests themselves have not yet gone through their ordination ceremony. Even though in Exodus, their ordination ceremony was described, they've not yet gone through it here in the book of Leviticus. And so, in a solemn moment, the congregation, the Lord tells Moses, is meant to gather at the entrance of the tabernacle to watch Aaron and his sons become consecrated. The first generation of priests, for Israel, to be consecrated for the work of the Lord.

Now, as I've mentioned previously, both in our study of Exodus and also here in Leviticus, the ordination of the priests and the priestly ministry has a dual significance for us today as Christians. Partly because, of course, Jesus we learn in the book of Hebrews is our great high priest. He fulfills the ministry that these priests began so many thousands of years ago. In other words, he right now is ministering to us. He is the perfect sacrifice. He blesses us. He mediates between us and the father. He makes way for us to get to the father. He teaches us and instructs us where to follow the way that is the life of Jesus. And he maintains our lives so that we can continue to live in worship of him, just as those priests would maintain the tabernacle or the temple.

So Jesus, by his spirit, maintains us so that we can continue bringing glory and honor to God. But not only is Jesus our great high priest, and not only are we to see him in these elements, but we also are called to live here on Earth as a kingdom of priests before the Lord. Jesus is the great high priest. But we ourselves can learn from the Old Testament priesthood, because many of the things that they did, in very outward, obvious and if I could say it, bloody ways, we're to do in a different kind of way. We're to point people to the sacrifice that is Jesus. We're to mediate between God and man. We're to represent God to the nations that we live in. We're to teach the world the truth of the gospel and the truth of God's Word.

And so, we're meant in many ways to be like these priests were in our era. And before we move on in the text, I do want to also point out to you a theme of the three chapters we're going to look at today. It says in verse four that Moses did as the Lord commanded him. And that's a real theme of this whole section. Twenty times Moses doing what the Lord commanded is going to be highlighted in these three brief chapters. This is emblematic of Jesus himself. The writer to the Hebrews makes this connection between Moses and Jesus when he says in Hebrews 3:1, "Therefore holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling consider Jesus the apostle and high priests of our confession who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all of God's house."

5 And Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done.” 6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7 And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. 8 And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.

So, Moses is living out, if you will, the Spirit of Christ by being completely allegiant and obedient to the father. That's what Jesus is all about, total obedience to the father's will. And so, Moses was faithful in God's house. And according to Hebrews 3:1 and 2, so was Jesus. Now the congregation gathered together for this ordination ceremony. And it says in verse five, "And Moses said to the congregation, 'This is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done." And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and wash them with water and he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist, and clothed them with the robe and put the ephod on him inside the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. And he placed the breast piece on him. And in the breast piece, he put the urim and the thummim. And set the turban on his head. And on the turban in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses."

So, the first thing that's done in this ordination ceremony is that after the congregation gathers, Moses grabs Aaron and his four sons. And he washes them with water. He washes them with water. Now, in that era, people would have understood readily that the washing of water had symbolic implications. It was restoring a person, cleansing a person, washing away the soiling effect of corruption from a person's life. And this would have reminded everybody who was there that day that look, God is holy, God is pure, God is righteous, and even his priests need to go through a process of being purified from the corruption that they're accumulating throughout everyday life.

Now, this was an initial washing that these priests would endure that consecrated them for the work, as opposed to a repeated washing that was necessary from day to day. So, this is kind of the first big washing, which would be followed by smaller washings in the future. Very similar to our relationship to the Lord, we're put into Christ, when we believe in him. We are washed by the Lord. But then we have to be cleansed continually, sanctified continually, because we walk through this world. Like Jesus said to his disciples on the night that he was betrayed. When he went around and he washed all of the feet of the disciples and Peter, of course, objected and said, "Lord, you will not wash my feet, you're too good for doing something that's so menial." But Jesus said, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me."

And so Peter said, "Then Lord, wash all of me." And Jesus said, "But you're already clean, but it's your feet that need to be washed." That's kind of the idea in our Christian lives. We are clean before Christ the moment that we believe in him. But after that regeneration occurs, we still need to be cleansed, because we're walking through this world. And we just pick up the negative effects all around us. Now, after washing these priests, Moses then put on the garments. And not a lot of detail is given to us about the garments here in Leviticus, especially if you went through the book of Exodus with us, you'll remember the details about these garments were given in the book of Exodus, their specifications, what they were to look like, and all of that.

But he had a coat that he would wear. Over the coat would be an ephod. On the ephod would be a breast piece that had 12 individual stones in it representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Also, on that breast piece was the urim and thummim, slightly mysterious, we're not exactly sure what it was. But that means lights and perfections. And in some way, they were able to determine God's will, it seems, through the usage of the urim and thummim. And then a turban on their head that had a plate on it that said, holy to the Lord.

And rather than break down each one of these individual garments, if you would like to think about that, I'd encourage you to go back into our study of Exodus chapter 28 and also chapter 39, but especially chapter 28. But here, the thing I want you to see is just the majesty of this outfit. It would just be an impressive garment or an impressive uniform that these priests would wear that would communicate both to the priest and to the worshiper, the seriousness of the office that this priest held, which would likely draw their attention to the seriousness, the holiness, of the God that they were approaching for worship in that precinct.

"Then Moses," verse 10, "took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle, and all that was in it and consecrated them. And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand to consecrate them. And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him." So, this next step, after washing, then clothing the priest is to anoint the priests. And when we went through the book of Exodus, we saw the description, in chapter 30, of how this anointing oil was made. It was a very special mixture. It was actually forbidden for the people of Israel to make this mixture for everyday usage.

10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.

And at the beginning of their ministry, they were anointed with this special anointing oil. They'd anoint the priests, but then also here in verse 10, it says they anointed the tabernacle, the altar, the utensils, the basin, along with Aaron, the high priest, his head. Now, anointing speaks of a few different things. One thing that it speaks of is that it's a sign of acceptance. In those times, and in that place, when a person came from a long journey or from far away and came into your home, if you anointed them with oil, it was a symbol that you were embracing them. You were accepting them.

So now here, you have God's house and these priests are anointed for and by God, it is symbolic of God's acceptance of them. You are accepted in my house. Additionally, the oil is also a sign of empowerment. The oil often is a symbol of the spirit throughout scripture. And here, the oil upon the priest spoke of the empowering or the enabling effect of God upon their lives. That he would enable them for the work that they were called to do. And of course, for us, we need that enabling as well.

And then additionally, it was also a sign, this oil was of consecration. All the instruments in the tabernacle were anointed. That means they were set apart for this work. Aaron was also like all the instruments that were inanimate, he also was set apart for the work. And the Spirit of God, his presence in our lives is emblematic of all of those things today. That we are accepted by God. It tells us in Ephesians chapter one that one of the evidences that we have the inheritance of Christ is that we've received the down payment for that inheritance from God, the Holy Spirit living within.

So, the spirit's presence inside of us helps us understand that we are accepted by God. But we also need the enabling, the empowering, the gifting of God's spirit as well. Paul said in I Corinthians 12:11, "That the Spirit gives gifts individually as he wills." Did you know that he has plans for your life? He has a gift to bestow upon you to enable you to be more effective for Jesus. And the spirit is also there to help us be consecrated people whispering into our ear, choose the good, reject the evil, walk with me, do not neglect your relationship with the Lord.

13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons and clothed them with coats and tied sashes around their waists and bound caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses. 14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 And he killed it, and Moses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it. 16 And he took all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them on the altar. 17 But the bull and its skin and its flesh and its dung he burned up with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.

He is there to consecrate us and set us apart for God. Now, after being washed and clothed and anointed, it says in verse 13, "And Moses brought Aaron's sons and clothed them with coats and tide sashes around their waists and bound caps on them as the Lord commanded Moses. Then he brought the bull of the sin offering and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. and he killed it. And Moses took the blood and with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the air and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it. And he took all the fat that was on the end trails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and Moses burned them on the altar. But the bull and its skin and its flesh and it's dung, he burned up with fire outside the camp as the Lord commanded Moses."

Now up to this point in the chapter, we've seen the ordination of Aaron as the high priest. But here, we see the other priests who at this stage are Aaron's sons, also installed into their priestly ministry. They weren't high priests, but they were going to serve and operate as priests in the tabernacle area. And so, they also would be consecrated or ordained at this moment. And we're going to learn throughout this passage that their names were named Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And one of the first things they do is they offer this bull of the sin offering. And we've already studied what the sin offering looks like, and the way that this offering would look.

And they did all the usual things that you would find in the sin offering, including taking everything that was left and burning it outside the camp. But it was all committed to God, this sin offering. Now, this is a great way for their ministry to begin, because a sin offering that they would give to the Lord, not on behalf of the nation, but for themselves and their own sin. I think it was designed to foster a humble priesthood. A priesthood that understood that though they had been purified and set apart for this honorable task, they were still sinners in need of the grace of God.

Jesus, of course, did not need to offer a sacrifice for himself. He offered sacrifices for us, a sacrifice for us, but did not need to offer up a sacrifice for his own sin, personally. And he's the only one that that is true of. The rest of us need the gospel, the rest of us need the blood of Christ. Unfortunately, at times when people begin to be used by God, and this can happen in professional church ministry. It can happen in lay non-professional ministry. It can happen when someone is just used by God in their home. It can happen to a father or a mother who is in a position of leadership in their house.

It's unfortunate, but oftentimes, as God is working and using a person's life, they begin to forget that they also need the gospel, not just the people that they're ministering to. But they also are in need of the grace of God, the blood of Christ, that his death and burial and resurrection is for them as well. That's part of the reason why communion is so important. It reminds us at all times of our great need for that primary message of Christ's substitutionary death. But it's another reason why we've got to just stay close and conscious of our own personal weakness. And I find it's far better to minister out of an understanding of our desperate need for the gospel than with any air of superiority.

And this sin offering that these priests gave at the beginning would help them remember, I need God's grace as well. I need God's grace as well. It's troublesome to see believers talking down to society, talking down to culture, talking down to people who are battling with sin or embracing sin in their lives, as if they have never been that or never could be that themselves. That's a negligent perspective. You're forgetting your absolute need for the grace of God. We've all fallen short of the glory of God and have needed the blood of Jesus.

18 Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And he killed it, and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. 20 He cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. 21 He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Now after the sin offering, it says in verse 18, "Then he," being Moses, "presented the ram of the burnt offering. And Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the head of the ram, and he killed it and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar, he cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. He watched the end trails and the legs with water and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses." So, as with the sin offering, being a carbon copy of the original sin offering that we've already read about, the same thing with the burnt offering.

The laying on of hands, the sprinkling of the blood, cutting up the sacrifice, washing the parts, eating the animal or the complete consumption of the animal on the altar, I should say. All of this was meant to indicate that not only did they have sin that needed to be dealt with graciously by God, but that they were consecrated. They were offering themselves completely to God. None of this would be enjoyed by the priest. It would all be consumed by God, a food offering for the Lord. It says in verse 21, God is the one that's ingesting this sacrifice. And it was meant to give these priests the idea, this is what my life is going to be like, I have to just give all of myself to the Lord and hold nothing back.

22 Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Then he presented Aaron’s sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. 25 Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh, 26 and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh. 27 And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. 29 And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And, of course, all of us as believers should want to have this in our lives, a complete devotion to the Lord, where we are completely laying ourselves down before him. And we're holding nothing back from him for ourselves. We're laying ourselves completely down before him. Then verse 22, "He presented the other ram, the ram of ordination. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and he killed it. And Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Then he presented Aaron's sons and Moses put some blood on the lobes of their right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet.

"And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. Then, he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the end trails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat in the right thigh. And out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the fat pieces, and on the right thigh. And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering with a pleasing aroma of food offering to the Lord.

"And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord. It was Moses's portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord commanded Moses." Now, this portion of the ordination, we read about this in the book of Exodus, but now they're actually living it out. It's very similar to the fellowship offering, except with this added portion, where some of the blood is placed on the right ear lobe, the right thumb and the right big toe, or the ear, hand and foot of Aaron, of the high priest and also his sons. And the idea here, of course, is that these men as they're being ordained, the idea is that their bodies are set apart for God.

Blood on the ear would have symbolized that they were dedicating their ears to receiving, hearing, listening to the word of God. And I think this is such an important attitude for a believer to have. Sometimes we can have closed ears to the things of God. We might technically hear or read the word of God. But are we open to what God has to say? Are we open to learning? Are we open to being instructed? I think a lot of times, what we're open to is learning about God's word, but are we open to God's word directing our lives and changing fundamental aspects of who we are, our priorities, the things that we focus upon. This blood was meant to say that these priests were game. They wanted God to say whatever he needed to say to them.

Blood on the thumb of their right hand might have pictured the need for holiness in doing God's work, the things that they would do with their lives. And blood on the toe may have spoken of the need to walk in a consecrated way, before and with God. I love to think about this ordination, this blood on the ear and hand and foot, as a way for us as modern believers to say, "I want the things that I consume, the material that I ingest, not just through my ears, but eyes and mouth as well even, I want the things that I ingest to be covered by the blood and holy before God. And I want the things that I do with my hands to bring honor to the Lord. And I want his grace and mercy when my hands do things that are out of bounds that I should not be engaging in. And I want where I go to be directed by God. I don't want to go anywhere that is not befitting the blood of Jesus."

30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons’ garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32 And what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up with fire. 33 And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for it will take seven days to ordain you. 34 As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. 35 At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” 36 And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses.

And so they offered this sacrifice, this ram of ordination. Then have this wave offering where they would go back and forth between the Lord and themselves, and then receive it back from the Lord. They offered this to God. "Then Moses," verse 30, "took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments and also on his sons and his sons' garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and his sons' garments with him. And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, 'Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.

"And what remains of the flesh and the bread, you shall burn up with fire. And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent meeting for seven days until the days of your ordination are completed, for it will take seven days to ordain you. As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. At the entrance of the tent of meeting, you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has charged, so that you do not die for so I have been commanded.' And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses."

So again, Aaron, his sons, their garments, they are ordained, set apart. They belong wholly and completely to God. But then Moses tells them, interestingly enough, that they have to actually stay there at the tabernacle at the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days. And you can only imagine what those seven days would have been like. I'm sure they were days of consideration, where they allowed the spirit to cause the seriousness of what they were entering into, to sink into their hearts. I'm sure they were days of contrition, their face-to-face with sacrifices and blood that were offered on behalf of and because of their own sin. There was likely an inspection of the heart with each sacrifice that was offered.

They were likely days of worship, there the presence of the Lord, the sense of God's glory and righteousness and holiness in his faithfulness, and bringing them to that point and establishing them as his people. They were likely days of fellowship and friendship as they prayed to God as they interacted with one another. And I think they were likely days of consecration, that there was something turning in the hearts of these men, to help them come to the conclusion and the realization, in many ways, this is how I will spend the rest of my life. It was a new day in the lives of these men. And so these seven days were crucial to allow it to settle within their heart. And it was a sober moment, because Moses warned, if you leave, you will die. So, there was a heaviness, to all of this. It was a grave moment with harsh consequences.

And the calling to serve the Lord is something that, of course, every Christian, in a sense, must give themselves to us. But for those who are called into, in our modern time, pastoral work or apostolic or prophetic work or evangelistic work or the like. These are works that, at times, they require just a season to let it sink into the heart before entering into it fully. And that's what these men were doing. Now, in chapter nine, the Lord will accept Aaron's offerings.

Leviticus 9

The Lord Accepts Aaron's Offerings

1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. 3 And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.’ ” 5 And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

It says verse one, "On the eighth day," so they've waited now seven days, "Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel and he said to Aaron, 'Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish and offer them before the Lord and say to the people of Israel, take a male goat for a sin offering and a calf and a lamb both a year old without blemish for a burn offering and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord. And a grain offering mixed with oil for today, the Lord will appear to you.' And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. And Moses said, 'This is the thing the Lord commanded you to do that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.'"

Now, up to this point, Moses has been the one who's been offering all the sacrifices on behalf of Aaron and his sons. So Moses, in a sense, has been the lone priest, the sole priest up to this point. But now Aaron and his sons, they've obeyed God's commandments, they've been ordained, the week is over, and they are ready to now begin offering sacrifices themselves. And so, they offer a sin offering, which was a bull and a burnt offering, which was a ram. And what they're doing now is offering sacrifices on behalf of the people. They've already offered a sin and burn offering for themselves. Now they're offering them for the people. And each day had to have this time of sacrifice before the Lord. Morning and evening, they would maintain this rhythm of sacrifice.

7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.” 8 So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10 But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp. 12 Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 13 And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

Then Moses said to Aaron, in verse seven, "Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burn offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people. And bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them as the Lord has commanded. So, Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar.

But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, he burned on the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp. Then, he killed the burnt offering. And Aaron's sons handed him the blood. And he threw it against the sides of the altar. And they handed the burnt offering to him piece by piece and the head and he burned them on the altar. And he watched the end tails and the legs and burnt them with the burnt offering on the altar."

15 Then he presented the people’s offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one. 16 And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. 17 And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. 18 Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 19 But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— 20 they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, 21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded.

And what we're reading here are the details of Aaron offering the sacrifices for the people and also for himself. And he's just following along exactly as God has prescribed and this is all very truncated. You're not getting all the gory details, but just the highlights, the specifics, of how it occurred. Then verse 15, "He presented the people's offering, and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering." So, first an offering for himself now for the people like the first one.

"And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. And he presented the grain offering took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar besides the burnt offering of the morning. Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron's sons handed him the blood and he threw it against the sides of the altar, but the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the tails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver. They put the fat pieces on the breasts and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron wave for a wave offering before the Lord as Moses commanded."

22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

So again, the offering here is the offering for the people. And this was important because it would be a waste of time to have a sanctified and consecrated priesthood, if the people weren't sanctified and consecrated to come and worship the Lord. "Then, Aaron lifted up his hands," verse 22, "toward the people and blessed them. And he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting and when they came out, they blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering, and the pieces of fat on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces."

This is exactly the response, the outcome, that Moses, Aaron and the people would have so desperately wanted. The presence of the Lord. The presence of God. You see, all of this would be pointless unless God himself showed up. In here, he shows up in a very powerful way, by with fire consuming the sacrifice that had been offered. There are other times of course in scripture where God presents himself with fire consuming something that has been given to him.

Samson's parents offer a meal to the angel of the Lord and fire consumes it. Elijah on Mount Carmel offers a sacrifice to the Lord in contrast to the priests of Baal and fire comes out and consumes that. Solomon, when he builds the temple that replaces the temporary tabernacle, offered a sacrifice to God and the fire of God comes down and consumes it. Interestingly enough, in the book of Acts, when the people of God, the early church, about 120 in number, are praying together in the upper room for about 10 days, just like Jesus told them to, waiting for the promise of the Spirit. The Spirit comes down and fire rests upon their heads, but they are not consumed. But the Spirit begins to work through their lives. It's as if God is now saying you have been given to me, and I'm going to work through your life.

But the whole idea is that all the pomp, all the ceremony, all the garb, all the ordinations, all the sacrifices would mean nothing without the presence of the Lord. And we're conscious of the same thing today as the New Testament Church, we need the presence of the Lord. It's not meaningful to read the Bible. It's not meaningful to gather together. It's not meaningful to have programs and ministries and do all these things if the presence of the Lord is not there. We gather because of him. We open the word because of him. We serve because of him. We want the presence and the glory of God to be made manifest in our midst.

Now, when Moses and Aaron came out, they lifted their hands and they blessed the people. This is an interesting concept. We throw the word bless out or around left and right in our modern time. But the idea of this word is that it speaks of God, in a sense, speeding up the natural process in a person's life. Often, the word bless is used to describe what God does to an infertile woman, an infertile womb. He then blesses them and overturns the natural decay and gives them life. And so, when Aaron comes out and blesses the people, the idea is we want God to be working in your life, to do things that could not be done without the Lord.

Leviticus 10

Nadab and Abihu Profane the Tabernacle

1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace.

And this is what we long for in our modern time as well, the blessing of God that he would do things in and among us that we cannot even produce or do for ourselves. Now, let's read chapter 10 as we close out this study today. It says in verse one, "Now, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took a sensor and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord," which he had not commanded them. "And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, 'This is what the Lord has said, among those who are near me, I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified,' and Aaron held his peace."

It's a shocking development. Here we are reading about the ordination of Aaron and his sons. This glorious moment where the sacrifices are all received. The priests are all ordained and the glory of the Lord consumes the sacrifice, a sign of acceptance and God's presence. And as the fire is burning, two of Aaron's sons who've just been ordained, Nadab and Abihu, they come in and offer what God calls an authorized fire, and God strikes them down. He kills them there in the tabernacle precincts.

Now, this is not the first time that in the midst of something beautiful that God is doing, it comes to a grinding halt through some type of sin. Adam was created, everything was good, the two, Adam and Eve, became one flesh and then everything comes to a grinding halt when Adam eats the fruit of the tree. Noah builds the ark, survives the judgment and wrath of God, the waters subside. They leave the ark and what is the first thing that Noah does? He plants a vineyard and becomes drunk in his tent and a horrible scene unfolds.

The people of Israel delivered into the land of Canaan. They are serving God for a while until they serve the Baal and Astartes of the land. Solomon growing the kingdom for the glory of God and then his heart is lifted up and he begins accumulating wives and worshipping the gods of these foreign wives. In the New Testament, the gospel is announced, but then come wolves in sheep's clothing. Jesus is baptized, but then he's driven into the wilderness for a time of testing. He enters Jerusalem triumphantly. And then, by that next weekend, they're crucifying him on a cross.

Over and over again, we see this kind of pattern unfold in God's word. When God is working powerfully, the enemy is trying to combat the work of God simultaneously. Now, the question that we ask is, what was the strange fire that Nadab and Abihu offered to God? What was their offense? Well, some have said that they went too far into the sanctuary. The role of the high priest was to go into the holy of holies. So maybe they went further than God had prescribed. Some wonder if they offered unauthorized coals from outside the temple area on the altar. Some wonder if they offered incense that didn't contain the proper prescribed biblical ingredients. Some wonder if they offered incense at the wrong time of day. And some wonder if all of this was caused, or one of these things was caused by drunkenness because one of the next things we'll see is God telling Aaron, that priests who are on duty cannot drink intoxicating drink, alcoholic beverages, of any kind.

But the reality is that a major problem in Israel's future was going to be unbiblical worship. Many false religions in that region were playing at religion. And so Israel needed to know that their priests and their nation weren't pretending anything. Their God was real, not a fake idol, but the true and living God, the creator of all things. And this event would help them know that God was serious about how he needed to be approached. And the fascinating thing, of course, is that this fire of the Lord now turns on a dime. In chapter nine, the fire of God comes and consumes the altar, as the crescendo, the pinnacle, the most beautiful thing that the people of Israel could have asked for. He accepts us, we're beloved, we're in. But now, the fire of the Lord comes and kills.

He judges. He disciplines. You see, this is the reality of who God is. For those who are recipients of the gospel who have bowed themselves to the revelation that God has given to humanity, for those who have surrendered and submitted themselves who have received the free gift of God's righteousness through the blood of his only begotten son, God has become friend, companion, father, leader, caregiver, protector, defender, our righteousness, our provider. But that same God, who is the beautiful fire for his people, that same God is a God of judgment and righteousness and holiness and purity. And his wrath remains upon those who have yet to receive the blood of Jesus upon their lives. Same God but depending on the blood, depending on your acceptance of Christ, a totally different relationship with him than others.

And so, these men, they experienced the other side of God, the character of God. Nadab and Abihu experienced God's wrath upon them for their unlawful fire that they offered to the Lord. Now, it's common in scripture for in the first moment or at the first moment of some egregious sin, God really making an example of that sin, disciplining it in a highly public way, in part so that future generations can know God's feelings on that particular matter.

There would be priests after Nadab and Abihu who did far more terrible things in many senses. I can think of the sons of Eli, for instance, in the book of First Samuel, who had inappropriate sexual relationships with some of the female worshipers and attendants who helped with some of the duties there in the tabernacle precincts. And these men, in the moment of their sin, were not immediately killed and judged for what they had done. Although the Lord eventually brought that discipline into their lives, but they were not immediately treated as Nadab and Abihu were.

But because Nadab and Abihu were treated in this way, future generations of priests could have understood, now what I'm doing is a holy thing. I cannot take it lightly. Similarly, when the people of Israel went into the Promised Land. You might remember that a man named Achan stole some things that were supposed to be dedicated to the Lord God who had said, "You can have everything in the land. But when you defeat Jericho, you need to take all that stuff, all those garments, all that gold and you need to dedicate it to me. You give the first to me and you can have everything else." But he took some and hid it for himself, and his sin found him out and he was killed. God demanded that he be executed for his crime.

And again, it was an example, he served as an example for the generations that follow. The people that followed Achan, many of them did many worse things than Achan had done, but at least they would have known where God stood on the matter. And in the New Testament, we see a similar episode where a man named Ananias and Sapphira act as if they are more holy and godly and sacrificial than they actually are. And God calls them out on that, on their sin, their hypocrisy, and both of them fall down dead. Now God has not done this to every act of hypocrisy throughout the history of the church. However, we all know how he feels about it because of that first episode.

And so, the same is true here with these very first priests. God says in verse three, "I will be sanctified." You can't design your own rules for worship. You can't come in here with unauthorized fire. You need to look into my word and represent me well.

4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. 7 And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

Now, "Moses," verse four, "called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, 'Come near, carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.' So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp as Moses had said. And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, 'Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose and do not tear your clothes lest you die and wrath come upon all the congregation, but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. Do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.' And they did according to the word of the Lord."

These are hard words from Moses to Aaron and the brothers who survive. He says, "You can't go out of the tent and mourn. You've got to let everybody else handle the morning for you because you have just been ordained. You have the anointing oil of God upon you. You are working right now for the Lord. You've got the garments on and the oil on your body, you're not permitted, Aaron, to mourn the death of your two older sons at this point." You see, God shows no favoritism when it comes to sin. He didn't want Aaron to play favorites, to treat one sinner one way, but the people another way. No, he needed to be resolute in his desire to pursue holiness.

Explicit Instructions to the Priests

8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”

Jesus, when he came, spoke often about how his presence could have a dividing effect even inside of a family. And this is part of the reason that there's this devotion to him that supersedes even a devotion to a son or a daughter. "And the Lord," verse eight, "spoke to Aaron saying, 'drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common in between the unclean. And you're to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses."

Now, this is actually the only time in scripture that God speaks directly to Aaron. So, we know this is a serious moment. It's placed right in the middle of this whole episode. So, we know it's the paramount point that God needs to make. And he tells Aaron to make sure that when they go into the tent of meeting as priests, when they're on duty, not when they're back covering the farmland or back at home, but when they're on duty, they're in the tabernacle precincts. The priests should drink no wine or strong drink. The word literally means no fermented drink. It's the idea of anything that would inebriate, intoxicate or impair their mentality, their mind, dull their senses, in any way.

This is why God said, "Because you need to distinguish between the holy and the common. You need to teach the people the dictates, the word of God. How can you do that if your mind is not as sharp as it needs to be? You need to be focused, set apart and ready to do the work that I've asked you to do." As I said earlier, this might be an indicator of what happened with Nadab and Abihu that they offered this profane fire, because they were intoxicated and they weren't thinking clearly about what is clean and what is unclean, and what is acceptable to God and unacceptable to God. And what has God said in his word, without the full availability of their faculties, they might have fudged and entered into error.

We don't know that that's the case for sure. But we do know that God's leaders are meant to be consecrated in their lives. Just as these priests were not to be drinking on the job, so God's leaders today need to have a full and ready mind to do the work of the Lord. Paul tells us that we're not to get drunk with wine. That's debauchery. But to be filled with the Spirit of God. Temperance, according to First Timothy three and Titus two is to be a mark of a pastor in a church. Now, again, I have said before, and I'll say again, I don't think that the old or New Testament prohibits, even in this passage prohibits a spiritual leader from drinking alcohol or a Christian, a believer, from drinking alcohol. But we're never to drink to excess and into drunkenness. And here the highlight though that's being pointed out from God to Moses, or excuse me to Aaron is, when you're on duty, your mind has to be sharp. You've got to be all there for the work of the Lord.

12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the Lord’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the Lord’s food offerings, for so I am commanded. 14 But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15 The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.”

And so, this helps us to embrace a holy calling of life, of God upon our lives. Are we willing to let God tell us what we can consume, when we can consume it, how we can consume it. If we're not able to submit those areas of our lives to God, then he's truly not the lord of our lives. We're the lord of our lives. But since he deserves to be the Lord, he deserves to tell us what we can and cannot consume. "Moses," verse 12, "spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons, and said, 'Take the grain offering that is left to the Lord's food offerings and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. You shall eat it in a holy place because it is your do and your sons' do from the Lord's food offerings for so I am commanded.

"Put the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed, you shall eat in a clean place you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they're given as your do and your sons' do for the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved, they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord and that shall be yours and your sons' with you as they do forever, as the Lord has commanded."

So, Eleazar and Ithamar, they're alive still. They didn't commit the crime that Nadab and Abihu committed. And now, they are being accepted by God in that position. Eleazar actually would become the next high priest and future generations of high priests would need to prove their lineage, their line to Eleazar.

16 Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.

 "Now Moses," verse 16, "diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron saying, 'Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary since it's the thing most holy and has been given to you.

"You may bear the iniquity of the congregation and make atonement for them before the Lord. Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary, you certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.' And Aaron said to Moses, 'Behold, today, they have offered their sin offering and their burn offering before the Lord. And yet such things as these have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today with the Lord have approved?' And when Moses heard that, he approved."

Well, what happens here is that Moses inspects the offerings that Aaron and his sons offered for the nation. They were supposed to eat a portion of those offerings for themselves. But because they were grieving or sad within, they couldn't bring themselves to eat this meal. And so, they burnt it all before the Lord. It was all consumed on the altar. And when Moses saw that he was very upset, because he thought that what he was seeing was disobedience to God. That they were taking the clear dictates of God's word and doing their own thing. And that's what Nadab and Abihu has just been killed for. So, Moses is angry about what he perceives to be unrighteousness.

But Aaron replies to Moses, and basically tells him, "Listen, today's been a very hard day, these sons of mine just watched their older brothers die. How could we possibly eat on a day like today? We're not allowed to go out and grieve. We're not allowed to do the traditional grieving. We're still here, we're still working, we're still serving the Lord. I know that we would normally be eating that portion. But we couldn't bring ourselves to do it." And apparently, for Moses, when he heard that, he knew that Aaron still had his ability to discern between clean and unclean, that Aaron still had his ability to discern what was right and wrong according to God's word, and that he was retaining that in his heart, but just choosing not to eat it, because of the grief that he was experiencing within.

And with that, Moses was appeased, and felt that the tension between God's righteousness and what God had dictated and yet what this man was going through internally, that that tension was resolved with what Aaron had shared. You see, the Lord, he loves and cares for and is compassionate to us, when we're going through the trials and pains of life. Even when we're going through trials and pains in life that are the result of either our sin or the sin of others. Nadab and Abihu, they had sinned and so this catastrophe came into Aaron's life. But yet, God was still compassionate towards Aaron, even though this was not something that had been caused just randomly, but because of sin. God was still compassionate to this man as he grieved.

And so, as we consider these three chapters, it's good for us to consider the sober call of God upon our lives. Let us walk worthy before him and seek him for his grace and everything that he's asked us to do. God bless you, church. See you again next week.