The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/PiesyqyC02M
Reading:
Leviticus 10:1-20
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
When
we think of the ministry of the priesthood, we think of bringing the offerings
of the people before the LORD. When the tabernacle was dedicated and Aaron
brought the first offerings before the LORD, he did so for himself and his sons
as well as the collective children of Israel.
Leviticus 9:15-17 NKJV 15 Then he
brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering
for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one. 16
And he brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the prescribed
manner. 17 Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned
it on the altar, besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.
After
the required portions of the offering are burnt on the altar, parts of the
offerings are set aside for the priesthood. Are these portions just part of the
compensation package for the priesthood, or is there a spiritual significance
to these portions? The events of Aaron’s inaugural day as high priest before
the LORD shed light on this question.
This
Torah portion includes Leviticus chapters 9 and 10 in which Aaron and his sons
begin their service to God. These chapters describe Aaron’s inaugural service as
the high priest. The service begins with Aaron offering a sin offering of a
bull and a burnt offering of a ram for himself. Then Aaron brings the offerings
for the entire nation of Israel. He brought a sin offering of a goat, a burnt
offering of a calf and a lamb, a peace sacrifice of a bull and a ram, and a
mincha offering of grain mixed with oil. Afterward, he and Moses blessed the
people and the fire of God fell on all the people.
Leviticus 9:23-24 NKJV 23 And Moses
and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the
people. Then 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 fat on the
altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
It
seems like the service ended at this point. What could possibly follow the
glory of the LORD entering the tabernacle? It may surprise you to find out that
there were still requirements for the offering that had to be fulfilled! But
these actions were delayed when Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, brought
strange fire before the LORD and, as a result, were consumed in the fire of the
LORD.
Leviticus 10:1-2 NKJV 1 Then Nadab and
Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense
on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded
them. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before
the LORD.
When
Aaron and his remaining sons set out to leave the Tabernacle to carry out the
remains of Nadab and Abihu, Moses stopped them because their tasks had not yet
been completed.
Leviticus 10:7 NKJV 7 "You shall
not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the
anointing oil of the LORD is upon you." And they did according to the word
of Moses.
The
imperative to remain in the tabernacle while the anointing oil of the LORD was
upon them, that is until their service was complete, was clear. They would die
if they left the tabernacle before the service was complete. After Moses
stopped Aaron, God, then, spoke directly to Aaron instead of going through
Moses. God told Aaron that the ministry of the priesthood involves more than bringing
the offerings to the altar.
Leviticus 10:8-11 NKJV 8 Then the LORD
spoke to Aaron, saying: 9 "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you,
nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you
die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, 10 "that
you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, 11
"and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the
LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."
The
implications of these words are that Nadab and Abihu came into the tabernacle
with their minds clouded from the effects of alcohol. As a result, they made a
bad decision that resulted in their deaths. As we continue, it seems that their
error included failing to discern between the holy and the unholy.
There
is an interesting deeper meaning in the literal understanding of the Hebrew
text in the relationship between an acceptable offering and the strange fire
Nadab and Abihu brought that illustrates the difference between the holy and
the unholy. When God first spoke to Moses out of the tabernacle instructing him
on how a person could draw near to Him, he told Moses that a person was to
bring an offering. In the Hebrew, this phrase, translated as “bring an offering,”
is literally “qarav korban,” numbers 7126 and 7133 in Strong’s Concordance,
meaning “bring near a brought near.” IN contrast, the word “profane” referring
to the profane fire Nadab and Abihu brought, is the word “zuur,” number 2114,
literally meaning “to turn aside.” That which God has declared as holy serves
to draw one near to God; that which is not holy serves to turn one aside from
God.
In
addition to having the responsibility of discerning between holy and unholy,
God told Aaron that he and his sons were to discern between what is clean and
unclean. The Torah describes the details of the clean and unclean restrictions after
this account of the inaugural service of Aaron.
After
the admonition to discern between holy and unholy, God, then returns to
relaying his instructions through Moses. Moses explains Aaron and his sons’
obligation to complete the tabernacle service by eating the mincha and sin
offerings. Yes, Aaron and his sons are required to eat portions of the
offerings in the tabernacle before leaving!
Leviticus 10:12-13 NKJV 12 And Moses
spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: "Take
the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the LORD, and
eat it without leaven 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, of the
sacrifices made by fire to the LORD; for so I have been commanded.
At
first glance, it seems that eating the grain offering is a reward of sorts. The
New King James version calls the priests’ portion their “due.” The New
International Version calls it their “share.” The American Standard Version
simply calls it their “portion.” The Hebrew tells us a different story! The
Hebrew word is the word “khoke,” number 2706, meaning to enact. As a noun, it
is an enactment, an ordinance, or a bound duty! Moses reinforces the importance
of this act by saying that this is what God commanded him to tell Aaron! Eating
the grain offering is part of the required duty of the priest! The offering is
not complete without this action! They are to eat it in the holy place which is
inside the tabernacle in the presence of the LORD. It is both the right and the
responsibility to eat this offering!
Moses
goes on to tell Aaron that the breast and thigh that are waved before the LORD
from the peace sacrifice are not eaten in the tabernacle. This offering could
be eaten in any clean place and was to be shared with all the members of his
household who were ritually clean.
With
the instructions of the mincha offering and the peace sacrifice clarified, Moses,
then went on to inquire about where they were keeping the sin offering that
Aaron and his sons were to eat in the tabernacle along with the mincha
offering. It is as if Moses is looking around and seeing what all needs to be
completed, but the sin offering was not where it was supposed to be. When he
searches carefully for it, he finds that it had been entirely burned up.
Leviticus 10:16 NKJV 16a Then Moses
made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it
was-burned up.
The
procedure for bringing the sin offering varies according to what is brought and
who brings it. In general, when a sin offering is brought for the entire
nation, it is to be a young bull. However, this is specifically when the nation
as a whole sins unintentionally and the offering of a bull is made when the sin
becomes known.
Leviticus 4:13-14 NKJV 13 'Now if the
whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from
the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the
commandments of the LORD in anything which should not be done, and are guilty;
14 'when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly
shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of
meeting.
Aaron
is to take the blood of this sin offering into the tabernacle and sprinkle it
seven times in front of the veil that covers the Holy of Holies. Since the
blood is taken into the tabernacle, the portion of the bull that is not burnt
on the burnt altar is to be taken outside the camp and burned. Aaron and his
sons do not eat from this sin offering.
Leviticus 6:30 NKJV 30 'But no sin
offering from which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of meeting,
to make atonement in the holy place, shall be eaten. It shall be burned in the
fire.
In
fact, Aaron and his sons do not eat any portion of a sin offering that would
include them. Since the offering for the whole nation is, at least in part, for
them, they cannot eat that sin offering as God’s representative to accept the
offering.
However,
in this special sin offering that inaugurates Aaron’s priesthood, the sin
offering for the people is a goat, and we are told that Aaron offers it in the
same way that he had earlier offered the young bull for his own sin offering. We
would expect that Aaron would have brought the blood into the tabernacle and
sprinkled it before the veil. But the Torah relates that Aaron only put the
blood on the horns of the altar and poured the rest of the blood at the base of
the altar.
Leviticus 9:9 NKJV 9 Then the sons of
Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it
on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar.
Neither
the blood for Aaron’s sin offering, nor the blood of the sin offering for the
people was taken into the tabernacle. When the blood of the sin offering is not
taken into the tabernacle, the sin offering is to be eaten by the priest who
offers it.
Leviticus 6:26, 29 NKJV 26 'The priest
who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the
court of the tabernacle of meeting. …29 'All the males among the priests may
eat it. It is most holy.
So,
in this one instance, when Aaron begins his ministry, he is to eat the sin
offering for the nation!
Aaron
and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Phineas were to eat the mincha and the
sin offering for the people. After Nadab and Abihu’s death, they wanted to
leave the tabernacle to mourn for Nadab and Abihu and leave the inaugural
ceremony incomplete! Moses instructed them to eat the portions set aside for
them, but they had already burned the rest of the sin offering! Moses was angry
at them because it would leave the ceremony unfinished.
Leviticus 10:16b-18 NKJV 16b And he
was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, 17
"Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most
holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to
make atonement for them before the LORD? 18 "See! Its blood was not
brought inside the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place,
as I commanded."
Moses
was angry because eating the sin offering is part of bearing the guilt of the
congregation and making atonement for them!
Remember,
the sin offering was to atone for and restore the fellowship between God and His
covenant people. By eating the offerings, the priests are signifying God’s
acceptance of the offerings. Leaving the sin offering uneaten, leaves this
process of atonement incomplete. Was the sin offering accepted by God or not?
Moses
searched diligently for the sin offering so that this process could be
completed. In Hebrew, the phrase “searched diligently” is the phrase “darosh
darash,” a repeat of the same word in a different tense. Literally, we would
read this phrase as “searching, he searched.” These two words form the exact
center of the Torah. First Fruits of Zion in Torah Club: Shadows of the
Messiah comments on the placement of these words.
Most printed editions of the Torah
contain a Masoretic note on Leviticus 10:16 stating that these two Hebrew
words—darosh, darash—are the exact halfway mark of all the words of the Torah.[i]
With
the same number of words on either side of these repeated words, it is as if
all the words of the Torah point to these words and the importance of searching
diligently for the sin offering!
In
this situation, Aaron, as a grieving father, could not put aside his grief to
participate in eating the sin offering.
Leviticus 10:19-20 NKJV 19 And Aaron
said to Moses, "Look, this day they have offered their sin offering and
their burnt offering before the LORD, and such things have befallen me! If I
had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of
the LORD?" 20 So when Moses heard that, he was content.
Moses
and, thus, we assume God, accepted Aaron’s explanation. Some fifteen hundred
years later, God would see His own son die as all the offerings together. He
would surely understand Aaron’s grief and inability to eat the sin offering
with the right attitude. The seventeenth century theologian Matthew Poole
comments on Aaron’s response.
“Should it have been accepted: Because
it was not to be eaten with sorrow but with rejoicing and thanksgiving, as
appears from Deuteronomy 12:7, 26:14 and Hosea 9:4; and I thought it fitter to
burn it, as I did other sacred relics, than to profane it be eating unworthily.[ii]
The
writer of the book of Hebrews addresses Yeshua’s death as the sin offering for
the people specifically addressing this issue of eating or not eating the sin
offering. As stated before, in the usual situation, the blood of the sin
offering for the people would be sprinkled before the veil in front of the holy
of holies with the remainder taken outside the camp and burned. No one was to
eat that sin offering. There seems to have been a doctrine going around that
our sin offering through Yeshua was not complete without eating a food that
symbolically represented the sin offering.
Hebrews 13:9 NKJV 9 Do not be carried
about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be
established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have
been occupied with them.
In
other words, eating a specific food does not result in forgiveness of sins. The
writer of Hebrews continues his explanation.
Hebrews 13:10-13 NKJV 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 sanctuary by the
high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that
He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13
Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
Yeshua’s
offering for sin was an offering for all the people so His blood was taken into
the heavenly temple. The Aaronic priesthood had no “right” to eat of the flesh
of that sin offering. The word “right” comes from the Greek word,
ex-oo-see'-ah, #1849 in the sense of an ability or privilege. However, this
word is translated as authority or power everywhere else in the New Testament.
From the context, it corresponds to the Hebrew word “khoke” which we learned
means “ordinance.” The priests have no ordinance to eat of the sin offering
whose blood is taken into the tabernacle. Since the sin offering included them,
they had no authority to eat it, that is to accept or reject it! As Aaron was
given authority to eat the sin offering of his inauguration to accept it on
behalf of God, so Yeshua, in His inauguration as our High Priest in the order
of Melchizedek has the authority to accept the sin offering for the nation. There
is no intermediary between Yeshua’s offering for sin and God’s acceptance!
Yeshua’s sin offering is complete and accepted by God. Yeshua, as our high
priest, is the one who brings His own blood into the Holy of Holies and accepts
it under God’s authority.
Yeshua’s
death was a sin offering as well as the covenant sacrifice to institute the new
covenant. The author of Hebrews explains this relationship.
Hebrews 9:15 NKJV 15 And for this
reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are
called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Yeshua’s
death is the covenant sacrifice bringing those who agree to its terms into
covenant with God. His death is also the sin offering for those who are in
covenant with Him, restoring our fellowship with God when we sin. We are
encouraged to seek Him out searching for Him the One who is our sin offering. When
we find Him, He is the one to whom we give praise!
Hebrews 13:15 NKJV 15 Therefore by Him
let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Yeshua,
as our sin offering, was accepted and received by God. It was not through the
mediation of any earthly priest, but through Yeshua laying down His life for
us. He is both the offering and the priest bringing the offering on our behalf.
We can be confident that His offering has been accepted by God and nothing has
been left incomplete.
Study
Questions:
1.
In addition to bringing the offerings,
what are the duties of the priesthood?
2.
Matthew Poole stated that the sin
offering should be eaten by the priest with rejoicing and thanksgiving based on
Deuteronomy 12:17, 26:14 and Hosea 9:4. Why is it important to eat this
offering, especially with rejoicing and thanksgiving? How does this apply to
Aaron’s choice not to eat the sin offering after the death of Nadab and Abihu?
3.
Normally, the sin offering for the
nation would not be eaten by the priests. Why do you think this sin offering
was treated differently? How does this apply to Yeshua’s offering of Himself
for the sin offering (Heb 13:9-13)?
General
Portion Questions
4.
In addition to bringing the offerings,
what are the duties of the priesthood?
5.
The rest of this portion deals with
foods that are clean or unclean. What is the restriction on unclean animals and
foods? How is it to be dealt with?
6.
What other insights
did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in this Torah
Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
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2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
