Leviticus 6:8-7:38

In this passage of Scripture the focus shifts to the priest and the offering. How should the priest come to the altar? What should he wear? How does one dispose of the ashes that would necessarily accrue after a number of sacrifices? What does a priest do if, in the process of slaughtering an animal for sacrifice, blood is splashed on his garment? If you are burning the carcasses of animals on the altar how do you ensure that they are completely burned up? What are the rules concerning the fires on the altar? If the priests are doing all this work, when do they get to eat? What do they get to eat? These and even more questions are answered in great detail in this passage.

First, let us notice the authority behind these commands. In 6:8 we read that “the LORD spoke to Moses.” This is significant and has far reaching implications; however, the thing that we want to focus on now is the word ‘spoke.’ God’s speech is an interesting thing in Scripture. With His speech all the world that we now dwell in and enjoy came about. With His speech came man from the dust He had created. With His speech was the world to be declared good and likewise, with His speech was the world to be declared cursed. A covenant that would span the epochs of time was made and has been kept by His Word. With the speech of God did the Roman mob fall down to the ground when confronting Jesus (cf. John 18:6). The redemptive act on the cross was declared to be completed by three words (cf. John 19:30), and by His speech we have hope of His return (cf. Revelation 22:12). The point of all this is that God’s speech carries with it tremendous authority and all that He says we should do. We need no logic or any such thing to justify obedience to God’s commandments. We see hints of it here in this passage and then elsewhere that there were certain animals that were unclean. Why were they unclean? For no other reason than that God declared them to be. Some would argue that the animals on the unclean list (i.e. with split hooves) actually pose health problems. There could be some veracity to that, but the question should then be asked, why is it then that in the book of Acts 10:11-16 these animals that were once unclean are now clean? Did they change? No! The only answer is that it is God’s speech that makes a thing so. This concept is so very important as we look into this passage concerning the sacrifice.

Secondly, we notice that the altar is a sacred and holy place. This is made evident to us by the commands given to the priests concerning their clothes. We see two simple things here concerning this. One is the idea of modesty. In verse 10 of Lev. 6 we read that he is “to put on undergarments next to his flesh.” What would be the result of disobedience to this command? Exodus 28:42-43 answers this question and states “you shall make for them linen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die.” There is much that could be said about modesty, but suffice it to say that from this verse it is abundantly clear that this issue is important to the Lord. I have found myself thinking ‘what does the Lord care, He created us and knows us inside and out?’ We are not talking about immodesty from a sensual standpoint in worship for these priests were only with men in this part of the tabernacle and, in addition to that, they were wearing long robes – but the Lord would be able to see and did not want to! Modesty is important, not just before others, but before the Lord and most especially in worship. The idea of their clothing brings us to the second idea which is that even their garments were sanctified for worship that is, set apart. When it came time to take the ashes of the burnt offering outside to the designated area the clothing that he was wearing was to be shed and others were to be donned (cf. 6:11)

Next, we see the manner and nature of the sacrifice. This was to be done completely. The fire was never to go out on the altar so that all of the animal would be consumed. Specific instructions were laid out concerning what parts of the animal should be offered like what to do with the fat and refuse and other such things. We even see here what to do concerning the grain offerings. God leaves no question in the mind of the readers how He wants even this offering accomplished, down to the detail of how stirred up the mixture should be (cf. 6:21; 7:12)!

Then our attention is drawn to the priests and their food and sustenance. They were able to eat things that were left over and other parts of the animal that the Lord did not require for sacrifice. Yet, even limitations were put on them. They could not eat the blood (cf. 7:26-27), on some animals, the fat was forbidden (cf. 7:23-24). Even the means of cooking their meat was laid out for them in 7:9 – oven, pan, or griddle.

There is more that could be described, however, one last thing will be drawn to our attention today, and that is at the end of chapter 7, verses 37-38, particularly in the first part of verse 38 where we read, “which the LORD commanded Moses at Mount Sinai in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai.” This is significant for the reason that we find the time frame in which this was all given, ‘in the day.’ Sometimes we start something without all the details that we need and will try and figure all those out later as time permits, but this is not how the Lord operates. We must understand as we are reading this that the people had not yet started the sacrifices. God spared no details, as is evident from above, for He wanted it done correctly the first time. Many applications could be derived from this for today but time does not permit. One thing to think about though – how do we worship the Lord today? Do we just go and do what we have always done, and then when we run into a problem at that time try and figure it out. We do not live under the Mosaic Law and the Levitical sacrificial customs but our God has not changed in His character. He still has high standards for our worship of Him and we must diligently seek to know and understand them if we are to worship Him in truth.

“Lord, You are the God of detail and perfection. All that is good and holy is from You. Everything that I need in the world today to live and to live acceptably before you has been given to me in Your Word. I have seen that Your Word is powerful, specific, and binding. Cause me to walk in obedience before You today, out of love and out of a sincere desire to please you!”