Early last week, we heard the Lord God tell Moses what was going to happen and how the tabernacle was going to be built. Towards the end of last week, we read about how Bezalel and Oholiab accomplished all the work with the Spirit’s help. In this week’s reading, they finish the last few items for the tabernacle, bring all the pieces together, and see the Lord bless it with his presence. All that’s left is to figure out what’s going to happen inside the tabernacle. That’s what the majority of our reading is about over the next week and a half through Leviticus (It’s only a week and a half – we can do it!).
I would bring one thing to your attention today. Exodus 39:43 – “And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.” Does this sound familiar to you from earlier in the story of Scripture? “And on the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done… and he blessed the seventh day.” In the wake of sin and death and exile from the Garden of Eden, the Lord has yet again made a place to dwell with his people. That’s the purpose of all the detailed plans. God intends to dwell with his people – and he still intends to dwell with us, even today, for the Father and the Son have sent the Spirit to dwell with us.
We now know what the tabernacle looks like – but what happens inside of it? The Lord is kind to give the people of Israel clarity in how they can rightly relate to him. Today, we learn of four types of offerings (burnt, grain, peace, and sin) with instructions explaining how each offering is handled. For burnt and peace offerings, bulls are handled one way, sheep and goats another way, and birds yet another. Grain offerings can be baked or not – but no leaven allowed (except on the feast of Firstfruits). Sin offerings are categorized by type. Chapter 4 deals with unintentional sins: by an individual (4:1-12), collective (4:13-21), leader (4:22-26), and common folk (4:27-35).
Today’s chapters continue directions about offerings. This time known/intentional sins and guilt offerings. In each section, you’ll read about the offense followed by the appropriate response. Starting in 6:8 and carrying on through the end of chapter 7 is God’s explanation of these offerings to Aaron and the priests – the ones who would actually do them.
Chapter 8 describes how Aaron and his sons become priests: they’re anointed, make a sin offering, a burnt offering, and an ordination offering, followed by a week-long stay in the Tent of Meeting. In chapter 9 Aaron makes each type of offering from Lev. 1-4 and the Lord accepts Aaron’s offering by consuming it with fire. Don’t miss it – God is again dwelling in the midst of his people! This is truly remarkable. Take a moment to reflect on that. Then keep reading into chapter 10. The all-too-familiar pattern comes raging back. Just when we think all is going well, humans blow it. Aaron’s sons (Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar) do not act in accordance with the word of the Lord – and judgment is swift. Even for the priests, the wages of sin is death. Genesis 3 rears its ugly head again.
Chapter 11 spends a lot of time talking about clean and unclean animals – what’s edible or not for God’s people. Chapter 12 instructs the people on what to do after new human life comes into the world. Chapter 13 tells us all about how to determine whether a skin disease qualifies as clean or unclean.
Chapter 14 continues helping us know how to clean (1) a skin disease in the event that we find an unclean one, and (2) the house of someone with a skin disease. Chapter 15 picks up on the closely related topic of bodily discharges. These are related because the skin forms the boundary of our bodies. Since God created an ordered world where everything has its place, there are laws about bodily discharges because the Lord cares about proper boundaries and proper place.
This is the central moment in the book of Leviticus. Again, in the Lord’s kindness, he’s giving clarity to how his people can be right related to him. On the Day of Atonement, Aaron makes a sin offering for himself and a sin offering for the people. He takes the blood of those into the Holy of Holies, makes atonement by sprinkling blood, comes out and presents the live goat which will carry the peoples’ confessed sin outside of the camp. After all of that, Aaron goes immediately into the tent of meeting to change clothes and bathe. Once bathed, he burns the sacrifices on the altar. Chapter 17 gives instruction about (1) the “proper order and means” by which any sacrifice is to be made. This is to prevent the people from making unholy sacrifices to goat demons and (2) why blood ought not be eaten.