Leviticus 7-8
Sunday Evening Bible Study
July 20, 1997
Introduction
We’ve been looking at the laws concerning the various offerings.
The burnt offering was about complete consecration to the Lord.
The "meat" offering, or, "grain" offering was about giving to God out of your substance.
The peace offering was about fellowship with God, having supper with Him.
The sin offering was about covering for sins that had been done in ignorance.
The trespass offering was like a sin offering, except it included
Leviticus 7
:1 this [is] the law of the trespass offering
Just as we saw in the last chapter some miscellaneous commands concerning the details of some of the offerings, we now get some more info about the trespass offering.
:10 every meat offering … shall all the sons of Aaron have …
The priest who makes the offering may take the meat. (:7)
The priests' portion
The meat of the guilt and sin offerings.
The skin from the burnt offering.
A portion of the grain offering.
The minister's right to support.
Paul was having some trouble with the Corinthian church about supporting him.
He defends the ability of those in the ministry to be supported by the ministry.
(1 Cor 9:9-15 KJV) For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? {10} Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. {11} If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? {12} If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. {13} Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? {14} Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. {15} But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.
There are some churches that seem to make a big deal about supporting their pastors.
They feel that there should be no paid pastors.
Paul himself refused to be supported by the Corinthians, even though he had a right to.
He didn’t want them to be stumbled by it.
But he also clearly argued the point that it was okay to pay your pastors as well, arguing from the fact that the priests got a share in the offerings on the altar, as a way of supporting themselves.
:11 the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings
We now get some more details on peace offerings.
:12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving
Apparently, a peace offering could be made as a way of giving thanks to God.
The peace offering was a picture of fellowship, eating supper with intimate friends, inviting God over for dinner.
Interesting, one of the ways of enriching fellowship with God is by giving thanks.
Lesson:
Thankfulness enriches relationship.
Thanksgiving enriches your relationship with God.
Complaining destroys your relationship with God.
That's our choice in our circumstances, thanksgiving or complaining.
The Jews in the desert, complaining, striving against God. They were never satisfied with God provided, but always grumbled and complained.
Nu 14:27-30 (NAS) "How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. 28 "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; 29 your corpses shall fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
In contrast, Jehoshaphat was facing a war with the Moabites and Ammonites.
2CH 20:14-23 Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the \Lord\ came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; 15 and he said, "Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the \Lord\ to you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. 16 'Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 'You {need} not fight in this {battle;} station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the \Lord\ on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the \Lord\ is with you. " 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with {his} face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the \Lord,\ worshiping the \Lord.\ 19 And the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the \Lord\ God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 20 And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the \Lord\ your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed." 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the \Lord\ and those who praised {Him} in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, "Give thanks to the \Lord,\ for His lovingkindness is everlasting." 22 And when they began singing and praising, the \Lord\ set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. 23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying {them} completely, and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
Equally bad circumstances as Israel faced in the wilderness, maybe even worse, yet rather than grumbling and complaining, they chose to trust God, and to give thanks to demonstrate that fact.
What did they give thanks for? For the bad situation they were in? No, but for the Lord's lovingkindness which never changes.
You may not be able to give thanks for your situation, but you can put your eyes on Jesus and give thanks for who He is.
You’ll even see this with your human relationships as well.
If you are always grumbling and complaining, you’re not going to be a person that others want to be around.
But if you’re a person who express thankfulness and appreciation towards others, you’ll have some people who’ll appreciate you back.
:14 heave offering
A portion of the meat is waved in the air, symbolically giving it to the Lord, but then kept, as if God has given it back to the priest to use.
:15 he shall not leave any of it until the morning
With thanksgiving offerings, there were no leftovers.
You had to eat it all that day.
Lesson:
Old Thanks isn’t enough.
Thanksgiving isn't something that carries over from one day to the next.
1TH 5:16-18 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
You can't fulfill this verse by saying, "Well, I was thankful a couple of days ago, doesn't that count?"
Thanksgiving needs to be a daily, renewed effort.
Illustration
It’s like the man whose wife says to him, "Honey, do you love me?" And he responds, "Hey, I told you I loved you twenty years ago, nothings changed, isn’t that enough?"
No, it’s not.
:16 be a vow …
Some kinds of peace offerings were done either upon the fulfillment of a vow, or as a "voluntary offering", just because you want to.
:17 on the third day
For this type of peace offering, you were allowed to eat leftovers for a couple of days, but on the third day, you had to burn the rest.
It’s possible that after the third day, the food would be too corrupt, too spoiled to be any good.
This could be for health reasons.
It’s possible that this also is a picture of the resurrection, that Jesus wasn’t left in the grave three days to be corrupted, but rose from the dead.
:18 not accepted
If you ate any of the food on the third day, then you lost the benefits of the sacrifice with God.
:21 unclean … cut off
As we’ll develop more later, the topic of being "unclean" was very important.
You were in a sense cut off from fellowship with God when you were "unclean".
:23 eat no manner of fat
As we’ve seen before, all the fat belonged to God.
Fat was seen as the best portion, and that part belonged to God.
:24 may be used in any other use
Fat could be used for other things, just not eaten.
Soap can be made from animal fat.
:27 eat no manner of blood
We’ve seen that God had designed blood to be a picture of the life of an animal.
God had set aside blood to be used to atone for sins.
He didn’t want the pictures messed up by people eating the blood.
(Lev 17:11 KJV) For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
:34 given them unto Aaron
These were the priests’ portions from the peace offerings, the breast and the shoulder.
God got His portion, the liver, kidneys, and the fat.
Your family got the rest for a big dinner.
Leviticus 8 - The priests are ordained
:2 Take Aaron
We’re going to see the actual process of the priests being "ordained", being set up in their ministry.
:6 washed them with water
This would be at the "laver", the large bronze bathtub that was used to wash their hands and feet.
Ministry requires being cleansed.
We’re cleansed in the water of the word (Eph. 5:25; John 15:3)
:7 the coat …
Equipped with what it takes to minister - spiritual gifts.
Clothed with white linen, the righteous deeds of the saints.
:9 the holy crown
It was a gold plate that was attached to the front of his turban, and it had the words "Holiness to the Lord" engraved on it.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a gold plate attached to our foreheads with the words "I am holy" on it?
Or how about, "Property of God, all others keep your hands off!"
:10 anointed the tabernacle
Everything is anointed - Everything in our ministry should be done by the power of the Holy Spirit.
:12 upon Aaron's head
We think that this was more than just a little dab-will-do-ya.
He poured enough oil on Aaron for it to run down his beard and down the edges of his robe.
Don’t go for the little "dab" anointing, go for the full flow!
There is a beautiful, wonderful thing happening here
Think of the fragrance the people could smell.
This was special oil, used only for this special kind of anointing.
This was the very thing that gave Aaron the qualification for his ministry.
EXO 40:15 and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing shall qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations. "
We're seeing a man put into the holy service of God.
Also, this oil didn't just stay on his head, but ran down his robes, it didn't just anoint and consecrate Aaron's head, but his whole body. Scripture speaks of something else having this same kind of beauty.
PSA 133:1-2 (A Song of Ascents, of David.) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, {Even} Aaron's beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
The beauty, the fragrance of unity.
:14 the sin offering
Now we begin to see all these sacrifices we've been studying be put to use.
Before ministry begins, a priest must take care of his sins.
We no longer offer a bull, but instead practice 1John 1:9.
I think that it’s important in ministry for you to know that your sins have been paid for, completely.
:17 without the camp
According to what we read back in 6:30, some of the blood of this bull must have been taken into the tabernacle and sprinkled on the horns of the altar of incense.
That’s why the rest is burnt outside the camp.
:21 burnt offering
What does the burnt offering represent?
Complete consecration to God.
That animal represents you, your entire self, being laid out on the altar and consumed in the flames.
Nothing left of you.
"Less Rich, More Filling"
Everything given to God.
The next step in ministry is total consecration.
Do you entirely belong to God?
NOTE:
You don't have to learn these lessons in ministry. You can minister to people without dealing with your sins, or without becoming consecrated to God.
But then you can't really expect God to be much of a part of your ministry either.
:22 the ram of consecration
also called the "Ram of ordination"
Lit. - "ram of setting", or "ram of filling". Hebrew word (millu) is used of putting precious stones into their settings. This is the process of putting the priests into their settings.
:23 blood … right ear …
What does shed blood do? It cleanses.
HEB 9:22 And according to the Law, {one may} almost {say}, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hence, each of the places the blood touches would be considered cleansed.
Cleansing your entire life, and setting it apart for God's use.
What you hear (your ear)
In both the Hebrew and Greek, the word "hear" is also the word that means "obey".
What you do (your thumb)
Where you go (your big toe)
Lesson:
How to be placed in your ministry.
Remember, this is the "ram of setting", like placing a stone in it's setting.
Where does God want me to minister?
Learn to hear and obey
Learn to be doing, not just sitting.
Sometimes we want to know what big plans God has for us, when He often just wants us to concentrate on doing the little things that are before us.
Learn to go when and where God leads
Israel in the wilderness, packing up and moving whenever the cloud moved.
Then you'll find you're right where you're supposed to be.
:29 wave offering
Again, the wave offering was one in which the idea is of waving or giving it to God, and He gives it back to you.
They would be eating this later.
:35 abide at the door of the tabernacle
Waiting on the Lord.
Then minister.
Lesson:
Ministry starts by waiting on the Lord.
I find that I have a really, really hard time even studying for Sunday or Wednesday if I haven’t first been spending time with the Lord, getting my heart ready, getting myself "in tune" with the Lord.
Paul wrote:
(1 Cor 11:23 KJV) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you …
You can’t give out until you’ve first spent time waiting and receiving.