Compare The Original Ordination Service with the last one at your church.

Numbers Chapter 8: The Levites are Consecrated

Numbers 8:1-26

I dubbed yesterday (May 1) my personal “Independence Day”. I had decided enough was enough. I will no longer let elitists and globalists turn me into a dumb sheep just because they have an agenda. I started going out and living life as normally as I could with whomever would join me. I recently invited members of my small group to join me this Sunday morning at the time of our regular service in the church parking lot, sitting in our respective cars and reading our bibles and praying. They will have to bring their own coffees. In the meantime, my enforced isolation is over. I’ll stay in long enough to continue my study in Numbers and share it with you.  So, hang in there and read on.

The Passage

 After the lamps were appropriately mounted in the tabernacle the first time it was set up, Moses was to take the Levites and “cleanse” them. This involved sprinkling purified water on them, letting them use a razor over their whole body, and washing their clothes. That would make them clean (vs, 7)

Verses 8-13 describe the ceremonial offering involved for the consecration of the Levites. Verses 14-22 describe again how the Levites belong to the Lord in lieu of all the first-borns of all the sons of Israel (we studied that in an earlier chapter). It is only then that the Levites can go about doing their work in, for, and with the tabernacle.

In verses 24-25, Moses is told that the Levites can only work in their calling from age 25 to age 50, and after that they can assist their brothers still working, but they themselves can do “no work”.

Thoughts on the Passage

Stepping back for a moment we see that this is a passage about the consecration of the Levites which feeds into the Sanctification through Worship that the Israelites had to go through, which in turn is part of a broader Sanctification and that in turn, is part of the Preparation of the Old Generation to inherit the promised land.

Notice, the lamps were in place. It was time to consecrate the Levites unto the Lord. Think of this like an ordination service for the Levites like you have for new pastors in your church. And it was also a time to clarify their term or duration of service – 25 years. We know that they could assist after that (and may before that), but in no way were they to actually carry out the official duties of the priesthood as outlined in the earlier chapter. What did God know about the appropriate age of a minister that we don’t?

We need to point out, in case you noticed a discrepancy with earlier chapters about their length of service, that David Guzik reminds us “A Levite's time of active service was to begin at age thirty and last until fifty according to Numbers 4:3, 4:23, and 4:30.  Yet their formal training began at age twenty-five, with a five-year apprenticeship.”

Matthew Henry tells us to pay particular attention to verse 10 were we read that the Levites were presented before the Lord, “and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.” This didn’t make the people the “consecrators” but rather just indicated their willingness to give up this tribe from among them in order for the Lord and His tabernacle to be served.  And God accepts them as such, as ‘His’ in verse 14.

Ministers who truly belong to God in every aspect that God intended them to are a very special, rare, and precious human commodity. We who are not must recognize that, but I also believe that we have a responsibility to make sure there is enough evidence of God being pleased with their ministry and with their lives. Where that is lacking, some of us will find it difficult to keeping on trusting them. Others of us, will recognize that such failure is also partly our fault as members and adherents of the congregation because we failed to encourage them, we failed to pray fervently for them, and we failed to recognize their needs. May God help us to do our part with respect to our parts and may we pray that they will continue to work closely with Him.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

How does our recruitment of pastors and ministers stack up against God's?

Numbers Chapter 4: The Organization of Priests – Part II

Numbers 4:1-49 The Ministry of the Levites and the Census of Working Levites

Day 37 of self-isolation. Life continues. We all have more time to reflect on what really matters – our relationship with God, our family, our health, and our service to others. Hope you are all painting a beautiful ‘landscape’ as to what your future will look like once this pandemic is over. There is no doubt that while the world would have evolved under normal circumstances, the human powers that be are taking advantage of the coronavirus to expedite changes – some of which we will not be too comfortable with, but nothing that God is not aware of and warned us about in His Word. And thus we continue to study it. Hang in there.

The Passage

Verses 1-20 are instructions to Moses to take a further census of the descendants of Kohath that are thirty years old and up to fifty years old and who “enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.” And then their work is described in detail.

Verses 21-28 do the same for the sons of Gershom. And the same is true for verses 29-33 for the sons of Merari.

The last section of the chapter (verses 34-49) provide the findings of each of the above counts and their total.

Thoughts on the Passage

Now I am sure many of you are saying, “Hey, can there be a more boring and repetitive chapter than Numbers 4?”  Well, I don’t know; I can’t remember. We’ll find out. But maybe, just maybe, there are some gems in this one too.

To begin with, we wonder how these sub-censuses were done in each case since Moses already had a census of those one month and up (chapter 3). Perhaps those under 30 years of age and over 50 were subtracted, or maybe they did recount. Afterall, what else was there to do in the wilderness?

But why between ages 30 and 50?  Remember, for all the other tribes it was 20 and over – those able to fight in a war. But here for the Levites, it’s between 30 and 50. Matthew Henry writes:

The service of God requires the best of our strength, and the prime of our time, which cannot be better spent than to the honour of him who is the first and best. And a man may make a good soldier much sooner than a good minister. Now, 

·       1. They were not to be employed till they were thirty years old, because till then they were in danger of retaining something childish and youthful and had not gravity enough to do the service, and wear the honour, of a Levite. They were entered as probationers at twenty-five years old, (chp. 8:24), and in David's time, when there was more work to be done, at twenty (1 Chr. 23:24), and so (Ezra 3:8); but they must be five years learning and waiting, and so fitting themselves for service; nay, in David's time they were ten years in preparation, from twenty to thirty. John Baptist began his public ministry, and Christ his, at thirty years old. This is not in the letter of it obligatory on gospel ministers now, as if they must either not begin their work till thirty years old or must leave off at fifty; but it gives us two good rules:

o   (1.) That ministers must not be novices, (1 Tim. 3:6). It is a work that requires ripeness of judgment and great steadiness, and therefore those are very unfit for it who are but babes in knowledge and have not put away childish things.

o   (2.) That they must learn before they teach, serve before they rule, and must first be proved (1 Tim. 3:10).

·       2. They were discharged at fifty years old from the toilsome part of the service, particularly that of carrying the tabernacle; for that is the special service to which they are here ordained, and which there was most occasion for while they were in the wilderness. When they began to enter upon old age, they were dismissed, 

o   (1.) In favour to them, that they might not be over-toiled when their strength began to decay. Twenty years' good service was thought pretty well for one man.

o   (2.) In honour to the work, that it might not be done by those who, through the infirmities of age, were slow and heavy. The service of God should be done when we are in the most lively active frame. Those do not consider this who put off their repentance to old age, and so leave the best work to be done in the worst time.

If only we followed these directions of God and thoughts of Henry as we lay hands on our youth to be our pastors.  Oftentimes, we act out of necessity for lack of workers, but we do so at our own peril. Many a young man has lost his way too early in ministry for one reason or another.

As you read the chapter you notice the detailed job descriptions in place for the different descendant groups. Not only what to do, but how to do it, with what to do it, and even what not to do.  For example, in verse 15 and 19, they were not to “touch the holy objects” or they would die. And in verse 20, they were not to even see the holy objects, “even for a moment, lest they die.”

Of interest to me also was verse 18 where Moses is told “Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from the among the Levites.” Matthew Henry explains this when he writes:

[This was] a solemn admonition to Moses and Aaron to beware, lest, by any negligence on their part, disorder and improprieties should creep in, and to take the greatest care that all the parts of this important service be apportioned to the proper parties, lest the Kohathites should be disqualified for their high and honorable duties. The guilt of their death would be incurred by the superintending priest, if he failed to give proper directions or allowed any irreverent familiarity with sacred things.

The family of Gershom was responsible for the curtains and their hangings (very elaborate as we remember from earlier descriptions of the tabernacle).  Finally, the family of Merari was responsible for the safe moving of all the pillars and the boards of, and around, the tabernacle.

Now I think of father Levite (or his tribe at least) having the world’s first specialized moving company. Maybe, based on this chapter, we could have called it “3 Families with No Vans”.  Instead, in total we are told, there were 8,580 men between the ages of 30 and 50 who, each time the cloud above them moved, took down the tabernacle and safely and properly, moved it to the new location where the cloud stopped.  Can you imagine the packing that needed to be done? Amazing.

David Guzik reminds us that this was not volunteer work. These men were each assigned their duties by Moses and Aaron, or those they had put in there as supervisors.

Guzik writes this:

Each of these had a role to play in doing the work of tabernacle, and God made them all dependent on each other to do that work.

i. "It is worthy of note that these Levites, although they were all equally consecrated to God, had not all exactly the same work to perform. God is not the God of all uniformity. There is a wondrous unity of plan and design in all that he does, but there is also an equally marvelous variety." (Spurgeon)

ii. Paul says the church is to work like a body - many parts, looking different, doing different jobs, meeting different needs, some more visible, some less, but all essential - and all with the same DNA code.

iii. Much trouble is caused in the service of the LORD by those who desire a different calling than they have, or who are jealous of those who have a different calling, or by those who exalt one calling and abase another. Everyone has a place and a job, and all can set themselves to do it.

Robert Jamieson says this about this chapter and its details: “It was a useful lesson, showing that God disregards nothing pertaining to His service, and that even in the least and most trivial matters, He requires the duty of faithful obedience.”

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Priestly Errors Are a Serious Matter and Deadly

Leviticus 10:1-11

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. ² And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,

‘By those who come near Me Iwill be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”

So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

⁴ Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.” ⁵ So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said. ⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the Lord has brought about. ⁷ You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So, they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸ The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, ⁹ “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations— ¹⁰ and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹ and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”

Thoughts on the Passage

Here we have two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, who decide to do something just a little different or special or extra as part of their offering to the Lord – something that He did not ask or command of them.  God was not impressed, and His presence produced a fire that consumed them, and they died.

Chuck Smith suggests they may have been doing something that was intended to draw attention to themselves and away from God.  He then asks us to consider what some pastors do, especially on television, in that regard.

David Guzik on the other hand, suggests it may all have had to do with their motivation to do something different, wondering if it was their pride, ambition, jealousy, or impatience that motivated them – anything but holiness towards God.

And notice what God says about their death: “If you’re going to approach Me (including in worship), be careful how you treat me – you need to treat Me as Holy. So that I will be honored before the people.”  Wow.

Forget the offerings in case you say those are rites the Old Testament priests had to follow, and instead focus on what God is saying here.  If you are going to be My servant, you need to treat Me as Holy.” In other words, God is saying that means you need to obey His instructions. Don’t add to them; don’t subtract from them. Follow them. How is your priest or pastor doing in that regard? If you are a pastor or a priest, how are you doing?

Also, of interest here, is the response of Aaron, the father, as he observed what happened to his sons. The text says, he “kept silent”. Of course, what else can we do when God clearly is the One that takes certain actions. There are no ifs, buts, or whys to be stated. We can only keep silent.

Some people say that when something bad happens in a church, we can never blame ourselves for it or anyone else. Things just happen. I would take issue with that approach. Sometimes, the Scripture teaches us, things happened because someone disobeyed, someone didn’t follow God commands, or someone just failed to be accountable in their responsibilities.

Anyway, Moses (notice not Aaron) calls for some cousins of the two dead men to come and remove the bodies from the sanctuary to the outside of the camp. And Moses warns Aaron and his other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, not to mourn their loss in case God decided to deal with you in the same way as apparent sympathizers of the wrong-doers. Worse still, God may take His wrath out against the whole congregation of the people. Moses knew more about God than any man alive at that time as He had met with God if you’ll remember. Fortunately, they listened to Moses.

In the last part of this passage, God now speaks to Aaron and warns him that neither he nor his sons must ever be under the influence of wine or strong drink when they go about their duties in the tent of meeting, lest they die. And he warns that this order, this statute would remain as a perpetual one, that is, forever.  It is possible, Smith suggests, that this part of the passage gives us a hint as to what God disliked about what Nadab and Abihu had done to get Him angry – they may have been under the influence of wine or strong drink. God wants His servants to be distinguishable as holy against those that are profane, and He wants His servants to be clean versus those that are unclean.  How are we doing?

Does God, or will God, strike a pastor dead today if he/she is not obeying God’s every commandment?  He might. But again, He may not. I can, however, be sure of one thing as I observed the clergy – be it in the Catholic church, the Greek Orthodox church, or the Protestant arm of the Christian world – God will not be mocked and He is no fool; He will bring judgment one way or another against those who have sinned against Him while carrying out their duties.

If one wants to go into greater detail on each part of this whole passage, I strongly recommend Matthew Henry’s commentary. He takes a close look at God’s possible thinking with respect to the strong action He took here. And he carefully points us to how serious a sin disobedience to God in His service really is.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

The Role of Your Pastor in You Seeing the Glory of God

Leviticus 9

Verses 1-14 cover the offerings for the Priest.
Verses 15-21 cover the offerings that the Priests make for the people.

Verses 22-24 describe the Lord’s acceptance of these offerings, as follows:

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

Thoughts on the Passage

There is something to be said about our priests and pastors or ministers carrying out their duties and then making a special point of blessing the people they serve. Chuck Smith says these represent the twofold responsibility and duty of the priesthood. First, they represent us to God through the carrying out of the sacrifices (or today the various sacraments) and second, they bring God’s blessings to us.

Somebody recently commented to me that fewer and fewer pastors are blessing their congregations at the end of worship services. Benedictions are rare these days. Hope you got one the last time you went to church – I know I didn’t.

In fact, in these last three verses of this chapter, Aaron blesses the people and then Moses and Aaron come out of the ‘tent of meeting’ and bless the people again.

And it was after that – after the two blessings – that the Scripture says, “the glory of the Lord appeared” and more importantly His glory “appeared to all the people”.  If we want to be blessed during and after our worship services, our leaders need to stick to the basics as dictated by God.

What we don’t need is mood music or fog machines to send us off in awe of God’s glory. We need the real thing. And oh, how we need pastors who know how to facilitate their congregation seeing the Glory of God.

There is no reason why our worship today cannot be accompanied by God’s miraculous presence, not necessarily as it was experienced in this passage – by fire coming down and consuming what was on the altar – but in some evident way whereby everyone present can know that God was pleased with His people and their worship. He was pleased in such a way that we would all sense it. We would should Hallelujah and jump for joy if not fall on our faces as the Israelites did.

A worship service could have everything as David Guzik suggests – it could have priests, rituals, sacrifices, you name it – but if it does not have the “glory of God” or the fire from above, it has been an almost meaningless experience.  You will remember that Moses had been telling the people that they would feel God’s presence on that day.  He was preparing himself for it; he was preparing the priests for it (everything had to be done right) and he was preparing his people for it.

Matthew Henry says this: “God's manifestations of himself, of his glory and grace, are commonly given in answer to prayer. When Christ was praying the heavens were opened, Lu. 3:21. The glory of God appeared, not while the sacrifices were in offering, but when the priests prayed (as 2 Chr. 5:13), when they praised God, which intimates that the prayers and praises of God's spiritual priests are more pleasing to God than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.”

I wonder how much time pastors spend in prayer seeking God’s direction as to how to ensure that His glory is shared with the people each and every Sunday. I hazard to guess that it is not much.  More time, it seems, is spent on how eloquent they will sound.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Priests Had To Remain Put or Die during their Ordination

Leviticus 8:31-36

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³² The remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. ³³ You shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days. ³⁴ The Lord has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. ³⁵ At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord, so that you will not die, for so I have been commanded.” ³⁶ Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Thoughts on the Passage

Once the various consecration steps had been carried out as God commanded Moses to undertake with respect to the ordination of the priests of the tabernacle, they had to stay inside the tent (tabernacle) for seven days. Only then was the ordination complete. Failure to do so meant death for the priests.

Robert Jamieson calls this a “probationary” period. Stay put and do the same thing over and over again.  Jamieson writes:

“During the whole of that period the same sacrificial rites were observed as on the first day, and they were expressly admonished that the smallest breach of any of the appointed observances would lead to the certain forfeiture of their lives [ Lev 8:35 ].”

And here’s Matthew Henry’s take on the passage:

“Gospel ministers are compared to those who served at the altar, for they minister about holy things (1 Co. 9:13), they are God's mouth to the people and the people's to God, the pastors and teachers Christ has appointed to continue in the church to the end of the world: they seem to be meant in that promise which points at gospel times (Isa. 66:21), I will take of them for priests and for Levites. No man may take this honour to himself, but he who upon trial is found to be clothed and anointed by the Spirit of God with gifts and graces to qualify him for it, and who with purpose of heart devotes himself entirely to the service, and is then by the word and prayer (for so every thing is sanctified), and the imposition of the hands of those that give themselves to the word and prayer, set apart to the office, and recommended to Christ as a servant and to the church as a steward and guide. And those that are thus solemnly dedicated to God ought not to depart from his service, but faithfully to abide in it all their days; and those that do so, and continue laboring in the word and doctrine, are to be accounted worthy of double honor, double to that of the Old-Testament priests.”

Our job is to make sure that no matter what our role is in Christian service, we approach it with the same dedication and commitment and “stick-to-it-ness” that God expected of His priests who served the Israelites.  How are we doing?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

How Priests/Pastors Should Relate Among Themselves

The Guilt Offering

Leviticus 7:1-10:

‘Now this is the law of the guilt offering; it is most holy. ² In the place where they slay the burnt offering, they are to slay the guilt offering, and he shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ³ Then he shall offer from it all its fat: the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, ⁴ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe on the liver he shall remove with the kidneys.⁵ The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a guilt offering. ⁶ Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy. ⁷ The guilt offering is like the sin offering, there is one law for them; the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.⁸ Also, the priest who presents any man’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has presented. ⁹ Likewise, every grain offering that is baked in the oven and everything prepared in a pan or on a griddle shall belong to the priest who presents it. ¹⁰ Every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to all alike.

Thoughts on the Passage

This chapter is, to a great extent, a repetition of earlier instructions, although for most of these offerings, although with more details and perhaps greater explanations – if we seek to have them.

What struck me to be of interest (especially as I read Matthew Henry on this passage), was the relationship between the work involved in offering the offerings and who got to reap the tangible benefits, in this case, the meat involved.  Look closely at verses 7 and 8.

Henry writes: 

“As to the flesh of the trespass-offering, the right to it belonged to the priest that offered it, v. 7. He that did the work must have the wages. This was an encouragement to the priests to give diligent attendance on the altar; the more ready and busy they were the more they got. Note, The more diligent we are in the services of religion the more we shall reap of the advantages of it. But any of the priests and the males of their families might be invited by him to whom it belonged to partake with him: Every male among the priests shall eat thereof, that is, may eat thereof, in the holy place, v. 6. And, no doubt, it was the usage to treat one another with those perquisites of their office, by which friendship and fellowship were kept up among the priests. Freely they had received, and must freely give. It seems the offerer was not himself to have any share of his trespass-offering, as he was to have of his peace-offering; but it was all divided between the altar and the priest.”

The Scriptures, Henry suggests, indicate that priests are to have their ‘wages’. But in return, they were to work diligently at their duties. And the benefits they were to receive were also extendable to their families. Of course, we can debate to great lengths what that “diligence” looks like for pastors and priests today.

Also, of great interest here is the fact that these priests worked together sharing the gains of their work – they operated as Henry points out with “friendship” and “fellowship” among them. Today, many of our senior priests often pull rank over their colleagues and while accountability is a must especially in the Lord’s work, it seldom seems to be pursued with excellence, let alone in a “friendship” and “fellowship” environment. The end result being the priests/pastors lose out on the blessing, the church loses good men (and women) and the Body takes another hit.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

When It Comes to Sin Offerings, God Addressed the Priests (Clergy and Pastors) First

The Sin Offering

Leviticus 4:1-12:

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the ^[a]things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, 

³ if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord a ^[b]bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has ^[c]committed. 

⁴ He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slay the bull before the Lord. 

⁵ Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, 

⁶ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 

⁷ The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 

⁸ He shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, 

⁹ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the ^[d]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys 

¹⁰ (just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings), and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 

¹¹ But the hide of the bull and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails and its refuse, 

^12 [e]that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring out to a clean place outside the camp where the ^[f]ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ^[g]ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

Thoughts on the Passage

I see this chapter as being divided into four parts. First, we have instructions for when a priest sins (verses 1-12).  Then we have instructions for when the whole congregation of Israel sins (verses 13-21). Third, for when a leader sins (verses 22-26).  Finally, for when a common person sins (verses 27-35).

Matthew Henry starts his comments on this chapter by saying that the first three chapters of Leviticus, covering the first three types of offering were delivered to Moses at one time before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, as the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were acquainted with them (see Genesis 8:20 and Exodus 20:24). In this chapter (4), we have the beginning of the statutes of another session, another day, with God sharing His commands.

Chuck Smith points out that even the sins of ignorance needed forgiveness as ignorance of the law is no excuse. He suggests that sin is often related to ignorance whereas transgression is not. Which then exclaims why there is both a sin offering and a trespass offering. Sinning is “missing the mark” – we try to do well, but we fail. Trespass is more than missing the mark – we know what God wants us to do, and we do the opposite. Or, we know what He doesn’t want us to do and we do it anyway. It’s a deliberate, willful act against God. And as Matthew Henry says, this offering also covered sins of omission.

Smith goes on to remind us that Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of the sin of ignorance for those that were crucifying Him when He uttered the words in Luke 23:24, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.”

Our passage provides the process for the offering when there were sins of ignorance committed. One difference from the other offerings described so far was that the semi-burned, mostly ashes, of skin of this animal (the bull) and all its flesh, with his head, and his legs, and the inwards, etc., were to be carried outside the camp unto a clean place, and the ashes further burned on wood (verses 11-12).

The skins of the animals of the first offering, the burnt offering of consecration could be kept by the priests and made into coats.  But these skins from the sin offering could not. The bull’s fat (signifying the ‘best’ of the animal) was dedicated to God.  The rest could not be offered to God, but instead burned outside the camp representing the worthless portions.

David Guzik plays down the idea of these sin offerings being for “accidental sins”. Instead, he sees them as being for sins committed by a person who basically loves God. Presumptuous sins, or sinning ‘with a high hand’ had not atonement available as the sinner’s heart was so defiantly turned against the Lord. If that was the case, sacrificing all the animals in the world would do no one any good.

This first part of the chapter makes provision for when priests committed unintentional sin. They too were held to a strict measure. Sometimes those in the priesthood think they are above the law of God, but God says absolutely not.  They are even more accountable for keeping it exactly. This is a lesson many of our clergies need to keep in mind these days. This passage clearly puts them at the same (lower) level with those they serve. When it comes to sin, priests and pastors are held to the same rules as the rest of us.  At the same time, when it comes to honor or prominence, we come up their (higher) level, for we are now, all priests (see I Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6, 5:10, and 20:6).

In fact, priests had to offer an unblemished bull whereas later we will see that other leaders could get away with simply a goat (verses 22-23).

The blood of this sacrificed animal was to be applied in three places: sprinkled in front of the veil of the Tabernacle and on the horns of the altar of incense, and the remainder of the blood was to be poured at the base of the altar of burnt offering or sacrifice just outside the tabernacle.

Guzik gives this rationale:

“Sin is an offense against the holiness of God, and so the veil guarding His holy presence must receive sacrificial blood.

“Sin affects our prayer life, and so the altar of incense representing the prayers of God’s people must receive sacrificial blood.

“Sin makes our atonement necessary, so the altar of the burnt offering – the place of atonement – must receive sacrificial blood.”

Returning to the focus of this passage – priests and their sin offerings – I often wonder how much more respect, and even love, congregants would have for their local church leaders if we saw them as human beings just like us subject to all the temptations and weaknesses that we have to deal with. And for their part, they are transparent in their failures including sins of omission and seek God’s forgiveness for them.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.