Leviticus 6:24-7:10 ~ 20160626 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
06/26 Leviticus 6:24-7:10; The Priests Portion and The Blood Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20160626_leviticus-6_24-7_10.mp3
We are in Leviticus 6-7, a section which deals again with the five sacrifices introduced in chapters 1-5.
Leviticus 1-7
A. Instructions for the People B. Instructions for the Priests
The Burnt Offering (ch.1) The Burnt Offering (6:8-13)
The Grain Offering (ch. 2) The Grain Offering (6:14-18)
The Priest's Grain Offering (6:19-23)
The Peace Offering (ch.3)
The Sin Offering (4:1-5:13) The Sin Offering (6:24-30)
The Guilt Offering (5:14-6:7) The Guilt Offering (7:1-10)
The Peace Offering (7:11-36)
Summary (7:37-38)
Chapter 1 begins with the Lord speaking to Moses saying 'speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when any one of you brings an offering to the Lord...' Chapter 6 begins with the Lord speaking to Moses saying 'command Aaron and his sons, saying...' Where chapters 1-5 deal with the five offerings from the perspective of a worshiper who brings his offering to the tabernacle, chapters 6 and 7 give instructions to the priest who must handle the offerings properly.
The Sin Offering
Leviticus 6:24 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering 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 tent of meeting. 27 Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place. 28 And the earthenware vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. But if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water. 29 Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy. 30 But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it shall be burned up with fire.
As we studied in chapters 4 and 5, the sin offering was the offering that was made by an individual or group when they realized they had sinned. Chapter 4 deals with unintentional sins of commission; something was done that ought not to be done, and he incurred guilt, even if the sinner didn't realize that what he had done was wrong. The first part of chapter 5 deals with unintentional sins of omission; neglecting to do what ought to be done. Even though the these are not willful sins, they incur guilt, and must be atoned for by sacrifice.
Chapter 4 gave instructions for who needed to offer what, and whose sin was more serious.
Eating the Offering
If it was a common person or even a leader, blood from their sacrifice was to be smeared on the horns of the altar of burnt offering in the courtyard of the tabernacle. The choice inward parts, the fat and the organs associated with deep emotion, were to be burned on the altar. Here in chapter 6, we learn what is to be done with the rest of the animal. It is most holy. It is given to the priest who offered it for him to eat, and to share with other priests. Only those who were holy, set apart to God and ritually clean were permitted to touch it. It was not to leave the tabernacle courtyard; it must be eaten only there.
Too Holy To Eat
If it was the high priest, or the whole assembly who sinned, blood from their sacrifice was brought inside the tent to the holy place and sprinkled 7 times in front of the curtain separating the holy place from the most holy place, and some of the blood was smeared on the altar of incense in that holy place. In that case, because the blood of that animal was presented before the Lord in the holy place, it was too holy even for the priests to eat. It was to be burned outside the camp. This is the offering that the author of Hebrews tells us points to Jesus, who suffered outside of Jerusalem.
Hebrews 13:10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
The priests of the Old Testament had no right to eat of the sacrifices whose blood was brought into the holy place. Jesus fulfilled this picture as our great High Priest by sacrificing himself as an offering for sin outside the camp. In Jesus we have rights beyond what the Old Testament priests had. We have access to Jesus, the most holy sacrifice of all. He invites us to come, come and feast; 'this is my body given for you; this is my blood of the covenant poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' (Lk.22:19-20; Mt.26:26-28)
The Blood
This passage reminds us how messy the sacrificial system was. There are instructions on what to do with things that come in contact with sacrificial blood. Blood is holy; it is set apart for a very specific use. God says in Leviticus 17
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
Blood symbolizes a life taken, and it was given for the exclusive purpose of making atonement on the altar. Blood was never to be consumed. It was always to be carefully disposed of properly. But remember, the tabernacle, and later the temple was a slaughterhouse. Literally hundreds of animals entered the courtyard alive, and were butchered and processed there. This was a bloody operation. Why? Why all the blood? Because my sin is that bad. The wages of sin is death, and the Levitical system is a sobering reminder of what even unintentional sins cost. This passage deals with what to do if blood is splashed on a priests garment. I imagine that this would be an almost unavoidable occurrence. But that blood is holy. It is given to make atonement. So it is not to be handled lightly. The garment is not to leave the temple courtyard. It is to be washed in a holy place. Now we begin to understand the purpose of the large bronze laver or wash basin near the altar in the courtyard. The priests garments, which were white, must be washed in this holy place.
Remember what Pilate did when he was about to hand Jesus over to be crucified?
Matthew 27:24 ...he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.”
He knew he had blood on his hands, blood of an innocent man. He was trying in vain to wash away the guilty stain.
Here we have priests who become splattered with sacrificial blood, who must remove the blood in a holy place. This is the background for some striking imagery in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 7, a great multitude from every nation and tribe and people and language are standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes, worshiping God and the Lamb. The question is posed 'who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'
Revelation 7:14 ... And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Robes washed white in blood! The blood of Jesus the Lamb washes all our stains away!
Have you been to
Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you
washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you washed
in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are
your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in
the blood of the Lamb?
Are you walking
daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you
washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Lay aside the
garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of
the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul
unclean,
O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
[Words & Music: Elisha A. Hoffman, Spiritual Songs for Gospel Meetings and the Sunday School (Cleveland, Ohio: Barker & Smellie, 1878)]
Blood is given to make atonement. It is powerful, and to be handled with care. If the sacrifice comes in contact with a bronze container, it must be scoured and rinsed. But if it comes in contact with a clay pot, the pot must be broken. Earthenware containers, which are porous, could not satisfactorily be cleansed to remove all traces of blood. They must be destroyed. It is interesting that we are likened to earthenware pots in 2 Corinthians 4
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, ...has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
Earthenware pots must be destroyed if they come in contact with sacrificial blood.; Have you been broken? Have you been wrecked and undone because you have come in contact with the blood?
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Have you been cleansed by the blood? As earthenware vessels, we must be broken. We must realize what we deserve. We must realize that we are unworthy, and that is what it means to experience grace, because grace is undeserved. We must come to the end of ourselves, be broken before him, to demonstrate that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. And the amazing thing is that when we are broken, he will use us!
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
We now hold the treasure of the gospel shining out from our broken hearts!
The Guilt Offering
Leviticus 7:1 “This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. 2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the guilt offering, and its blood shall be thrown against the sides of the altar. 3 And all its fat shall be offered, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, 4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering 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 just like the sin offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
The guilt offering was for sins of robbing God our our neighbor. There are specific details of the instruction here that were not listed in the section on the guilt offering in chapters 5-6. Like the sin offering, the inward parts are offered to God. The guilt offering makes atonement, bringing reconciliation with God and man. This offering, like the sin offering, is to be holy food for the priests.
Miscellaneous Possessions of the Priests
Verses 8-10 address miscellaneous possessions which belong to the priests.
Leviticus 7:8 And the priest who offers any man's burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered. 9 And every grain offering baked in the oven and all that is prepared on a pan or a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it. 10 And every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall be shared equally among all the sons of Aaron.
The language here is language of possession. These are the things that by God's design are offered to him and they become the possession of those who serve him. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9
1 Corinthians 9:13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
He also tells Timothy:
1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
This indicates that the priests who served in the temple didn't pack a lunch. They showed up in faith, depending on the goodness of God to provide for their needs. Those who served were those who first benefited from the offering. The priests portion was not stored up. It needed to be eaten right away. Day by day they were relying on God to provide for their needs.
Jesus taught us to pray:
Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread,
He went on to say:
Matthew 6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
May we be satisfied as we serve him to lean on him every day in total helpless dependence.
Are you fully
trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb?
Are your
garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the
blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each
moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org