Shemini “Eighth”

Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47

We begin this week with Aaron’s offerings to the Lord from himself and the people of Israel. On the 8th day Moses calls Aaron, his sons and the people to bring a sacrifice offering to the tabernacle to be offered to God. Moses tells the people that the Lord will appear before them on this day. All the people draw near waiting with anticipation. Aaron lifts up his hands towards the people and blesses them. Moses and Aaron go inside the tent of meeting and they both come out and bless the people and then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people and a fire came out and consumed their offerings. When the people saw this, they shouted and fell on their faces. I have to imagine the same Shekinah glory that had left the mark on the face of Moses when he was on Mt. Sinai, left an impression as well on the people and therefore they fell out of reverence to the Lord on their faces.

We read how God continues to give specific instructions regarding temple service and duty. Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu bring unauthorized fire before the Lord and the Lord brings forth fire from Him and it consumes both brothers and they die before the Lord. If you are reading this for the first time, you might be asking yourself, “that seemed rather extreme”, for God to smote them like that. Well, we don’t have a lot of details to go by; however, we do know that the fire they brought forth was strange, in other words, it was not how God intended it to be. There is also some that believe they had been drunk on wine and therefore it clouded their judgment on what they were doing inside God’s holy temple. Either side you fall on, the principle is this, God is specific and He does not want us to honor Him by becoming complacent when doing His work.

Moses explains this to Aaron and as grief stricken as I imagine Aaron would have been, he never showed his grief. He understood, that God was setting an example for future Priests. Yes, this whole temple service was something new for the Israelites and they were learning about God’s ways; however, God needed to set the precedent and that is exactly what He did.

God continues to set expectations regarding wine and strong drink in the tabernacle (which kind of backs up the story of Aaron’s sons being drunk). God wants His people to be able to distinguish between what is holy and what is common and also between clean and unclean.

After moving through the chapters discussing priestly duties and sacrifices, we now move into laws which touch their ordinary and every day life in the desert. The Israelite people soon learn about clean and unclean animals for consumption. We don’t clearly know the reasons for the dietary laws and many over time have suggested their own theological conclusions. I believe there are several important points to the dietary laws. First, God’s intent was for Israel to be a holy nation and set apart from the other nations. Therefore, God gives instructions on what they can and cannot eat. I also believe, the dietary laws were given to help protect His chosen people for health reasons. Many diseases were prevented by obedience to these laws. I also believe, that today, we have a better understanding of what makes some meat more dangerous and other meat safe. In stating this, it is reasonable to think that by protecting the health of the Jewish nation, God ensured the continuation and prosperity of His people.

We conclude with the disposal of animal carcasses. When an animal died, it couldn’t just be left where it died to rot, it needed to be disposed of properly. We know today, that bacteria grows rapidly in an environment conducive to loss of life; therefore, the people had strict rules to follow when disposing dead animals.

Even if a rodent was found dead, it would carefully be disposed of and the one disposing it, would make certain to cleanse and wash afterwards. I came across this story a few years back….in the 1300’s the bubonic plague hit Europe and a quarter of Europeans died. Many Jewish communities were spared and it is suggested, it was because of their hygienic habits.

From a completely hygienic standpoint, these laws were very important and many of us still follow to this day. Back then, if a rodent was seen crawling over cookware, etc, the item would be broken and disposed. Remember, our cookware today is made of hard materials, not porous materials like they had back then. We use soap and hot water to disinfect today, but items that are porous cannot just be washed out and defined as “clean”.

In summary, the laws that God gave to the Israelites were to protect them from things like bad diet, dangerous rodents and vermin and communicable diseases. Remember, God was Israel’s redeemer, He had freed them from 400 years of slavery and was rising up a nation, He knew what would protect them from harm.

Over the next several chapters, we will continue to see instructions on daily living for the Israelites. There are certainly areas we can glean from even for life today as we know it.

Maybe this is the first time you have read through the laws God is giving to the Israelites. I encourage you to continue reading and grow an understanding of God’s design for His chosen people. We are called to be set apart even today. How does that look to you? Are you set apart for God? When people meet you for the first time, do they see Jesus shining in and through you? Do you feel you are more righteous than others, because you eat a certain way or worship on a certain day? Paul warns us of a legalistic attitude. If you feel the Holy Spirit convict you to do something, do it. But don’t put yourself above others because maybe the Holy Spirit has not convicted them on the same things. God knows our hearts, He wants a relationship with all of us that call ourselves children of Almighty King!

Blessings & Shalom ~ Deena