Leviticus 21:24: The Seriousness of Being God's People

Lest anyone should take the blessing of God lightly, He makes it clear to Moses that his requirements are strict.  The standards for the priests are high, and for the High Priest higher still.  God commands Moses to "Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the LORD.  Say to them: 'For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD." - Lev 22:1-3 NIV

God exhorts his people to "Keep my commands and follow them. I am the LORD.  Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who makes  you holy  and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD." Lev. 22:31-33 NIV
Then he proceeds to lay out the various feasts they are to observe, the first being the Sabbath.  On an annual basis they are to celebrate the Passover to commemorate when God brought them out of Egypt, the Feast of Firstfruits to acknowledge the first harvest, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles to remember that they lived in tents on their journey out of Egypt.
 
In case any of the Children of Israel doubted that God's name was holy and it was not to be profaned, they were told to stone a person in their midst who 'blasphemed the Name with a curse'.  They did as they were told.  This was not just any god they were following.  This was the Name above all Names, the God who bought them and set them apart as holy.

Leviticus 16-20: Set Apart

The Children of Israel were aware that not just anyone could approach the Most Holy God.  They remembered very well what happened to Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, when they were irreverent.  With this in mind, Aaron received instructions from the Lord on how to make atonement and carefully followed all of God's instructions for what was to becomes part of the Israelite law, the day of atonement.  "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins.  It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. Lev 16:29-31 NIV

But it was not enough to make sacrifices of atonement for their sins.  The people of Israel were also told to separate themselves from those who were not God's chosen people, and from practices that were not the practice of a godly people.  They were not to put together two disparate forms.  They were not to accept the practices of the heathen.   They were to be honest and loving.    Not following these commandments was sin and the punishment for sin would be death and separation.  " 'Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.  You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.  But I said to you, "You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.' " Lev 20:22-24 NIV    They couldn't have it both ways.  They couldn't mix the holy and the profane. They couldn't feast on the promised milk and honey and the enjoyments of other nations at the same time, no matter how tempting or innocent they appeared.

Leviticus 12-15: Purity

Just how dirty was it, wandering around in the desert with thousands of others and their children and their flocks.  How were the Children of Israel to survive without water purification tablets, Clorox and antibiotics?  They had to be constantly vigilant and willing to be placed outside the camp or have their dwelling destroyed for the safety of the community.  The commands in chapters 12 to 15 may seem a little dramatic to us now, but they were absolutely essential for the survival of the Israelites.  Not only did their hearts have to be pure, but their bodies and surroundings had to be pure as well.  What's up with this God?  You, who created the heavens and earth, could have done away with mildew, boils, and infectious diseases.  Oh yeah, that's right.  One man's sin destroyed the perfect world you created.  Now, in addition to envy, greed, and lust, the Israelites have to deal with all the manifest results of uncleanliness.  All they can do is bring their sacrifices of a sin offering and burnt offering to the priest so he can make atonement for them. Only a sacrifice will wash away their sin.  Only blood will make them whole again.

Leviticus 9-11: Aaron is Silent

The priest, Aaron and his sons, begin their ministry, but it is preceded by a warning from Moses that carried with it the prospect of death if it was not obeyed.  "And you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days he shall consecrate you.  As he has done this day, so the LORD has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. Therefore you shall stay at the door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, so that you may not die; for so I have been commanded.”  - Lev. 8:33-35 NKJV

The Lords commands were followed, the priests brought their offering before the Lord, where fire came out and consumed the offering before all of the Israelites.  This display of God's power ignited the people so that they shouted for joy and fell face down.  Everyone seeing this fire from God should have realized that this was serious business.  But not Aaron's Sons, Nadab and Abihu.  Perhaps they were giddy with the celebration, or they just didn't think.  At any rate, they grabbed up the censers, put fire and incense in them and waved the censers around in front of the Lord.  Oops.  The fire of the Lord burned them up, just as it had done to the offering.  God would not tolerate any disrespect. Moses had to remind Aaron of what the Lord said
" 'Among those who approach me
I will show myself holy;
in the sight of all the people
I will be honored.'
Aaron remained silent."- Lev 10:3

Imagine!  Aaron has seen the fire of the Lord consume the sacrifice, and then turn around and consume his sons.  He knows now that God is very serious about all of His commands.  "I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."  Lev 11:44 NKJV.  It is an awesome thing to come into the presence of the one Holy God. That should be enough to silence anyone.

Leviticus 5-8: No Exceptions

God has made known to Moses all of the offerings he requires: "This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai." - Lev 7:37-38 NKJV
God has also made it clear that in addition to the offering for purposeful sinning, an offering has to be made for unintentional sins and sins of commission. And furthermore, lack of resources does not free one from the responsibility of making atonement. If the one who sinned could not afford a lamb, he could bring two doves or pigeons. If even that was not affordable, an offering could be made of fine flour. There was only one path to forgiveness and it required an offering. The ever-seeing, ever-knowing God cannot abide sin in any form. If his creation cannot be as He originally intended when they were placed in the garden, they will have to make atonement for any and all imperfections.

Leviticus 1-4: Offerings

Exactly one year after the Israelites fled Egypt, the tabernacle is set up and God's glory fills it up.  Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.  And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.  Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys.  But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up.  For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.  - Exodus 40: 34-38 NKJV

But the tabernacle wasn't just to lead the Israelites.  From there, God calls to Moses and gives directions for offerings.  Burnt offerings and grain offerings were in their history as far back as Cain and Able.  Now the Lord gives them specific instructions on what these offerings should consist of.  He also gives specific instructions on fellowship offerings.  Fellowship offerings, which are discussed further in Leviticus, chapter seven, were not required offerings.  They were above and beyond, just like love offerings are above and beyond the tithe; offerings made by a blessed people to the one who blessed them, acknowledging what God had done.

The next type of offering was one of acknowledgement also, but the sin offering was in acknowledgement of sin:  against God or against their fellow man.  And furthermore, the sin didn't have to be intentional.  Even unintentional sin required an offering, and it was necessary to atone for sin by an individual, by a leader of the community, by an anointed priest, and by the community itself.
‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which should not be done, and are guilty;  when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting.-  Lev 4:13-14 NKJV
 
Unintentional sin against any of God's commandments, required someone to bring the matter to the sinner's attention.  The sinner, whether it is an individual or the entire community, had to make a sacrifice.   Once the sacrifice was made, the sin was forgiven.  The tabernacle was not just for leading the Children of Israel, it was also there to maintain a right relationship with God.

Exodus 34-40: The people give

What a mess the people have made of everything.  Their fickle hearts didn't remain true long enough for Moses to come back down from meeting with God on the mountain.  Moses in his anger at them destroys the commandments that were inscribed by God's hand, and then has to beg God to not destroy the whole lot.  This time when Moses comes back down from spending another forty days on the mountain with God, his face is radiant.  So radiant that even his brother Aaron was afraid to come near him.  Moses convinces Aaron and the leaders to come back to speak with him and he gives the commandments of the Lord to all of them.

  As part of the commands from God, Moses calls out Bezelel and Oholiab to oversee the building of the tabernacle, and asks anyone who wants to contribute offerings for the construction to do so.  As if to make up for the gold that they gave Aaron to make the golden calf, this time, the people bring offerings.  Morning after morning, they bring offerings until finally Moses has to issue an order that no more offerings should be made. The Israelites carried out all of God's instructions for the building of the tabernacle and the making of the priestly garments, just as God had instructed Moses on the mountain.   "According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, just so they had done it. And Moses blessed them." - Exodus 39:42-43 NKJV 

Finally, the people can set off on their journey to the promised land.  They have the law, they have the tabernacle and the priests and most of all, they have hearts ready to follow the Lord.