Leviticus 6: 1 – 30
Love my neighbors
6 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “If a person sins and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, 3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: 4 then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 5 or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering. 6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 7 So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.” 8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘this is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out. 14 ‘This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it on the altar before the LORD. 15 He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the LORD. 16 And the remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with unleavened bread it shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of meeting they shall eat it. 17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering. 18 All the males among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Everyone who touches them must be holy.’” 19 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD, beginning on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night. 21 It shall be made in a pan with oil. When it is mixed, you shall bring it in. The baked pieces of the grain offering you shall offer for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 22 The priest from among his sons, who is anointed in his place, shall offer it. It is a statute forever to the LORD. It shall be wholly burned. 23 For every grain offering for the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.” 24 Also the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the LORD. It is most holy. 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. 27 Everyone who touches its flesh must be holy. And when its blood is sprinkled on any garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled, in a holy place. 28 But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. And if it is boiled in a bronze pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water. 29 All the males among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. 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
Just gotta love my neighbors. After all how often are you given the opportunity to test the fruits of Holy Spirit actually working in your life?
Being blessed by our Great and Gracious God I was able to put together the funds to have a little house built for my family. He steered me to select a small piece of property that backed up to a county park. Oh the blissful beauty and serenity of sitting out back and enjoying the Creator’s Merciful attractions of colors.
I could not filter who would pick the adjacent properties. Upon observing the elimination of my tranquil haven being destroyed by the installment of an ugly steel fence, I could somewhat be at peace knowing that the two large vicious dogs would be fenced in from attacking me. I can also appreciate that robbers would be hesitant on robbing the homes with two killer dogs on patrol day and night.
Yet to show me how hospitable they were they broke into my yet unfinished home and dismantled a toilet. The benefit of this action improved my legal knowledge. For there is nothing better that filling out a police record of breaking and entry on my house that I haven’t even moved into yet. Oh, the reason why they took my toilet was that they swore that the builders put their toilet by mistake in my house instead of theirs. I can take comfort in that answer knowing that my choices of fixtures were in demand.
Across the street was a little old widow. To extend the grace of the Lord I would make sure her driveway and pathway to her house was always cleared of snow for her safety. I guess in her own way she did not appreciate my neighbor for when she sold her home she made sure it would be to a family that would compete with them over issues. Trouble with that idea is that it did not affect them at all. Only my living situation was affected. A case in point is that they never take it upon themselves to carry their trash cans back up to their house even though they have 20 people living in a small 3 bedroom home. Ah, it makes me think of the shore where you didn’t care how many people crashed because you spent you days on the beach.
Anyway I have to give them credit in that by leaving their garbage cans and lids strewn out front of their home they can conveniently find parking in front of my house. After all it is community parking. The result in me parking two blocks away and having to walk to my house is good for my health. I am sure they are concerned for my wellbeing in that I do not get enough exercise.
Like my next door neighbor they enjoy large dogs also. I have to admire their expertise in training the two huge dogs. They must have been students of the ‘dog whisperer.’ Even though there are a lot of lawns in our development they have somehow taught their dogs to make a bee line for my lawn to do their business. I overcome my wife’s complaints in encouraging her that looking on the bright side they help us become more alert and agile. We want to avoid stepping on things that are unpleasant and it keeps us agile in maneuvering around those droppings. Perhaps the nearby farms can use some extra fertilizer.
Now you may be thinking, ‘Come on now all that insanity can’t be true?’ Well sadly it is in fact worse than what I have just explained. I do not want to take up more time in giving you a background report on neighbors’ habits. For the truth is that even though I experience these bizarre actions of my neighbors, I still gotta love them. This is what my Lord has told me to do.
In today’s study we are going to learn about a few things our Lord wants us to do with neighbors. May we take them all to heart?
6 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “If a person sins and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, 3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins:
These sins too are against Yahweh, but not this time against the Sanctuary. They are sins against Yahweh’s people which require compensation as well as atonement, for they have suffered loss. They are evidence of financial dishonesty and greed. This is a reminder that to take false advantage of God’s people is to take false advantage of God. Here the command ‘you shall not covet’ has been broken.
The sins in mind are those of dishonesty with respect to a deposit not repaid when it should have been, the making of a false or unfair bargain, a deliberate theft, the sin of oppressing or crowding a neighbor for financial gain, that of finding something that was lost and keeping it, or the making of a lie on oath. If someone has done any of these things and is now faced up with his sin, either by conscience, or by neighbor pressure, or pressure from someone in authority (they are ‘found guilty’), he must fall in line with the requirement that follows.
4 then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 5 or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering.
The first thing that someone must do is making full restoration, and on top must add one fifth as a kind of fine. The one who has suffered loss in this case receives the compensation. These rules would not apply in the case of farm stock where the compensation might be much higher (Exodus 22.1-4).
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 7 So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.”
After restoring what was lost and paying one fifth compensation the person must now bring his guilt offering to Yahweh God. It is to be an unblemished ram at a value estimated by Moses in relation to the amount that had been lost and is now being restored. This will then be offered by the priest who will make the necessary atonement thus will the person be forgiven for what they were guilty of doing.
The basic lesson that comes over here is that when we put right a financial wrong we should pay compensation at one fifth. Then only can we come to God to find forgiveness.
8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
The concern here is more of maintaining the altar fir so as to properly consume the whole burnt offering than with the whole burnt offering itself.
We are now moving on to cover additional details of the offerings is split into three sections. In the first section is ‘the law of the whole burnt offering’ and ‘the law of the grain offering’, in the second is more detail about the grain offering referring to the daily grain offering of the priests, and in the third are ‘the law of the purification for sin offering’, ‘the law of the guilt offering’ and ‘the law of the peace sacrifices’. Yet they are united by the phrase ‘this is the law of --.’
9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘this is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.
We now have added information about the whole burnt offering which especially has in mind the morning and evening offerings (Exodus 29.38-42), which are themselves whole burnt offerings (Numbers 28.3-8). The whole burnt offering is to be allowed to burn all night, and the fire is to be kept alight under it, so as to ensure that it is properly consumed. The initial offering of such an offering may with much practice be quick, but the outworking of it takes the whole night. We too need to recognize that ‘full surrender’ for an evening is easy, but do we make it last through until the morning? Our dedication of ourselves must be wholehearted and lasting (Romans 12.1-2).
10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
When the morning comes the Priest must put on his priestly linen garment and his breeches so that there is no danger of his private parts being exposed. Then he must take up the ashes containing the remains of offerings and sacrifices, and put them on one side beside the altar. Activity on the altar involves what is holy and the Priest must thus be adequately clothed with ‘holy garments’, so holy that he must not leave the tabernacle wearing them. They are separated and set apart wholly to God’s service.
So must we ensure that when we go about God’s service we are properly prepared as far as it is possible? God desires no slipshod ways.
11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.
Then he will divest himself of the priestly garments, put on other clothes, and carry the ashes out to a clean place. It must be a clean place because the ashes are holy and must not be defiled. There they will remain with God.
The importance for us of these requirements is that they bring home the fact of the sacredness of dealing with the things of God. Not having such solemn ritual we can tend to forget with Whom we are dealing, and that we should not approach Him lightly. We need constantly to recognize that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and although through Christ the fear has been mainly removed, we need to remember with Whom we have to do. Our God Is a consuming fire. We must love and tremble at the same time, for He Is a holy God.
12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
At this stage the fire is not to be allowed to go out. Morning having come wood will then be placed on the fire to revive it, and then the morning whole burnt offering is to be placed on the wood, after which the fat of the peace offerings may also be burned on it.
13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
A perpetual fire is to be maintained on the altar.
A continual flame is probably also to be seen as a symbol of the continual divine presence, reminding us continually of His never failing presence and of our responsibilities towards Him, so that recognizing His requirements we offer ourselves afresh to Him daily.
We have here a reminder of what should be the intent of our lives, to come daily to Him Who Is the continually burning Flame, so that through our offering of ourselves in Him and to Him, we too might continually burn and constantly reveal God’s glory. This will be brought about by our continually working out what He works in us (Philippians 2.13), and by our continually offering ourselves daily in worship and prayer through His word, so that we are wholly taken up with Him, and so that our continual offering of ourselves is received by Him. We have the assurance that the Flame will never go out. Our lives should therefore be a daily offering.
Our Precious Holy Spirit now deals further with the grain offerings described in chapter 2 but concentrates more on the right of the priest to partake of them. It reminds us that it provides holy food for the priests. It is then followed by a description of the twice daily grain offering on behalf of the priests, of which they cannot partake.
14 ‘this is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it on the altar before the LORD. 15 He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the LORD.
As stated in chapter 2, but in more abbreviated form, the grain offering is brought and offered to Yahweh mingled with oil and with the frankincense placed on it. Then a handful of milled grain and oil, (the memorial of it to Yahweh) together with all the frankincense, is offered by fire to Yahweh.
In this way are we to offer our gratitude for His many provisions for us, and dedicate to Him our daily labor, together with the pleasing odor of Christ, which is like the frankincense brought from afar to enhance our offering. Thus are we acceptable to God.
16 And the remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with unleavened bread it shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of meeting they shall eat it.
Then what is left of the grain offering can be eaten by the priests, and they alone, for it is a whole offering. It is to be eaten without leaven in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. It is a part of their ‘holy eating’ which prepares them for their ministry to the people.
In the same way may all who are ‘sanctified in Him’ (1 Corinthians 1.2) as a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2.9) can partake of Christ as the living bread Who has come down from Heaven to give life to the world (John 6.33), partaking of Him daily through faith from His word, so that we never hunger, and coming to Him daily in confident trust so that we never thirst (John 6.35). And for this, like the priests, we should go aside into a dedicated place before we go out into the world, so that, daily receiving of Him, we might take blessing to the world (Galatians 2.20). What we receive is most holy.
17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering.
This grain offering was in no way to be baked with leaven. There must be within it no ‘corrupting’ influence of the outward created world. It must be as from God, as received by His people. And this is because it is a portion of the offerings made by fire, the offerings which belonged to Yahweh, but of which he was willing for His priests to partake. They were most holy offerings, as were the purification for sin and guilt offerings. They could only be eaten by His holy priests within His holy tabernacle. And they must be totally pure.
So should we in our quiet moments receive the unleavened word, uncorrupted by outward influences, receiving it into our hearts from God? There is a time for more detailed study with the help of outward influences, but there is also a time when he and His word and we should be alone together, when we partake of the unleavened word. The warning is constant. Beware of the corrupting influence of the world with its sinful and spiritually harmful pleasures, its glittering offers that draw us from the way of righteousness, (the deceitfulness of riches), and its prizes offered if only we will compromise the truth!
18 All the males among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Everyone who touches them must be holy.’”
Portions of the grain offerings after the memorial has been offered are for Aaron’s sons ‘forever throughout their generations’. They were of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, but His priests could partake of them, for they were holy to Him. And whoever touched such offerings were to be holy. This was a warning to any others not to touch them, for if they were made holy like the priests. Only those, whom God had made holy, could be holy and live. It is dangerous to presume on God.
In the same way all who are His and sanctified in Him may continually partake of Christ and of His word. But we must beware, for we are touching holy things. By it we are continually sanctified and must ever therefore recognize our responsibility of priesthood and service to the world. Once we have partaken there is no release. We are His forever.
Information is now given about the regular morning and evening grain offering, offered along with the continual whole burnt offering. None of this could be eaten of, even by the priests, it was wholly offered by fire to Yahweh.
19 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD, beginning on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night.
This regular twice daily grain offering was first offered on the day when Aaron was anointed and consecrated along with his sons (Exodus 29). It was then to be offered twice daily continually thereafter on behalf of the priests. It was made up of a tenth part of an ephah of milled grain at each offering. There would be two portions, one for the morning and one for the evening offering, each portion being the tenth part of an ephah (about 2 dry liters each portion).
21 It shall be made in a pan with oil. When it is mixed, you shall bring it in. The baked pieces of the grain offering you shall offer for a sweet aroma to the LORD.
This was to be mixed with oil and baked on a flat pan. Once the whole was ready it was to be brought in and offered in baked pieces as a grain offering. No frankincense was necessary as it was offered with the whole burnt offering. It was for a pleasing odor to Yahweh, an offering of joy and thanksgiving.
In this we see a picture of the offering up of the One Who above all was a pleasing odor to God. He Was grain from God, milled by men, and thus able to be a satisfactory offering to Him, the bread that came down from Heaven to suffer and die (John 6.51), Who became a pleasing odor to God. And we, as His priesthood, are called through Him to offer up our worship and praise in His name, accepted for His sake (Hebrews 13.15), ourselves a pleasing odor to Him.
22 The priest from among his sons, who is anointed in his place, shall offer it. It is a statute forever to the LORD. It shall be wholly burned. 23 For every grain offering for the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”
This grain offering is to be offered by the anointed priest at the time, a descendant of Aaron, perpetually into the future. It was primarily his responsibility to provide it. This is an everlasting statute. And as the priest’s offering it must be wholly burnt up. It must not be eaten. It is an offering made by fire. It is wholly His.
This reminds us that there is that in Christ of which we may partake, for we are His priesthood and we need to receive life and power from Him, but there is that which was offered on our behalf, of which we cannot partake, or even have any real understanding, for it is the means of our atonement and acceptance which was beyond understanding. We can only stand back and glorify God for it daily.
24 Also the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the LORD. It is most holy.
Purification for sin offering is to be slain in the same place as the whole burnt offering that is to the north of the altar (1.11) in the court of the tabernacle. The holiness of the offering from the start is being stressed, so that the regulations that follow will be seen in all their seriousness.
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.
Once its blood and fat with its innards have been offered, the priest who offered it for sin may eat of it. He has been caught up in the holiness of the sacrifice and is therefore in a fit state to do so. And he must eat it in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. Thus is the holiness of the purification for sin offering doubly stressed? All of it is holy, For God has worked through it to neutralize and blot out sin and make holy what once bore sin. All that connects with it is brought within its holiness.
27 Everyone who touches its flesh must be holy. And when its blood is sprinkled on any garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled, in a holy place.
It is so holy that whatever touches its flesh is made holy, and if any of the blood falls on a piece of clothing it must be washed in a holy place. This all brings out the divine power that is at work in the act of purification of a sinner. It is the Holy One at work.
28 But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. And if it is boiled in a bronze pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water.
The earthen vessel in which the meat is boiled must be broken after use, and if it is boiled in a bronze or copper vessel it must be scoured out and rinsed with water. The absorbent earthen vessel may have absorbed something of the offering. It is therefore too holy to be used again. In the case of the metal vessel there is no absorption. It may therefore be cleansed.
29 All the males among the priests may eat it. It is most holy.
It is difficult to see how the holiness of the offering could be more emphasized. When God is at work in purification He makes all holy. Thus can we know that when we are purified by the One Who made Him an offering for sin, He makes us completely holy.
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
There is something even more holy than a purification for sin offering, and that is an offering which is brought within the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, the purification for sin offerings for the priest and for the community. They are so holy that they are taken to a clean place outside the camp and burned for Yahweh. How holy then are those who are cleansed in the blood of Jesus!
