seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Leviticus 10:8 Then the Lord said to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, 10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.”
12 Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering left over from the food offerings prepared without yeast and presented to the Lord and eat it beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 Eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the Lord; for so I have been commanded. 14 But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place; they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings. 15 The thigh that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the food offerings, to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering. This will be the perpetual share for you and your children, as the Lord has commanded.”
16 When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering(b) and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, 17 “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the Lord. 18 Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.”
19 Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” 20 When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
12 Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering left over from the food offerings prepared without yeast and presented to the Lord and eat it beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 Eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the Lord; for so I have been commanded. 14 But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place; they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings. 15 The thigh that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the food offerings, to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering. This will be the perpetual share for you and your children, as the Lord has commanded.”
16 When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering(b) and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, 17 “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the Lord. 18 Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.”
19 Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” 20 When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
b. Leviticus 10:16 Or purification offering; also in verses 17 and 19
See, it was a lot to learn. God is instructing Aaron. He usually instructed Moses, who in turn instructed Aaron.
Here's the easy English commentary.
God spoke to Aaron. This was very unusual. Usually, God gave Moses instructions for Aaron.
After the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron probably thought that it was impossible to be chief priest. God is holy, and people are unholy. The result was that, already, two of Aaron’s sons were dead. It seemed as if his family would all die.
If Aaron was thinking such thoughts, God’s words would have brought some comfort. God told him that his descendants, the priests, would continue to exist. They must learn to separate holy and unholy things. And Aaron’s descendants would have the responsibility to teach these things to the Israelites.
Many Jewish Bible students believed that alcohol was part of the reason for Nadab’s and Abihu’s deaths, verse 2. Perhaps alcohol caused them to behave in a manner that offended God. Most people then drank drinks that contained alcohol. (For exceptions, see Numbers 6:1-4 and Jeremiah 35:3-6). Water is only a healthy drink where the supply is clean and pure. So drinks that contain alcohol are sometimes safer. People then had no coffee! (But they could use plants to make their own tea.)
Leviticus chapters 11 to 15 tell us what is clean or unclean. Part of the priests’ job was to tell people the difference between clean and unclean things. The priests might not be able to do this properly if they had drunk alcohol.
Christians are also priests in this way. They teach (tell) people what is right (clean) and wrong (unclean).
The corn offering here is the one in Leviticus 9:4 and 9:17. Holy here does not mean good. It means that it was part of their religion. It was holy because they had offered it to God.
The holy place was by the altar where they had offered the corn offering.
These things are not ‘very holy’ as the corn offering was. The priests and their families could eat them away from the meeting tent. Women could not go near to the meeting tent; only the men were priests.
Moses complained to Aaron’s sons. But Aaron himself answered Moses, verse 19.
The Hebrew words for meeting tent and holy place in this verse are the same: qodesh. We have translated them so that they mean inside and outside the meeting tent.
‘Such things as these’ probably means the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. Aaron was the leader of his family. So he explained why Eleazar and Ithamar had not eaten the sin offering.
When a priest ate the offering, he was having fellowship with God. The priest could only do that because God had accepted the offering.
However, on this day, God had clearly not accepted the sin offering that Aaron’s 4 sons had made. The deaths of Nadab and Abihu proved that. So it would be wrong for Eleazar and Ithamar to eat an offering that God did not accept. That was why they had to burn the sin offering.
This explanation satisfied Moses.
After the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron probably thought that it was impossible to be chief priest. God is holy, and people are unholy. The result was that, already, two of Aaron’s sons were dead. It seemed as if his family would all die.
If Aaron was thinking such thoughts, God’s words would have brought some comfort. God told him that his descendants, the priests, would continue to exist. They must learn to separate holy and unholy things. And Aaron’s descendants would have the responsibility to teach these things to the Israelites.
Many Jewish Bible students believed that alcohol was part of the reason for Nadab’s and Abihu’s deaths, verse 2. Perhaps alcohol caused them to behave in a manner that offended God. Most people then drank drinks that contained alcohol. (For exceptions, see Numbers 6:1-4 and Jeremiah 35:3-6). Water is only a healthy drink where the supply is clean and pure. So drinks that contain alcohol are sometimes safer. People then had no coffee! (But they could use plants to make their own tea.)
Leviticus chapters 11 to 15 tell us what is clean or unclean. Part of the priests’ job was to tell people the difference between clean and unclean things. The priests might not be able to do this properly if they had drunk alcohol.
Christians are also priests in this way. They teach (tell) people what is right (clean) and wrong (unclean).
The corn offering here is the one in Leviticus 9:4 and 9:17. Holy here does not mean good. It means that it was part of their religion. It was holy because they had offered it to God.
The holy place was by the altar where they had offered the corn offering.
These things are not ‘very holy’ as the corn offering was. The priests and their families could eat them away from the meeting tent. Women could not go near to the meeting tent; only the men were priests.
Moses complained to Aaron’s sons. But Aaron himself answered Moses, verse 19.
The Hebrew words for meeting tent and holy place in this verse are the same: qodesh. We have translated them so that they mean inside and outside the meeting tent.
‘Such things as these’ probably means the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. Aaron was the leader of his family. So he explained why Eleazar and Ithamar had not eaten the sin offering.
When a priest ate the offering, he was having fellowship with God. The priest could only do that because God had accepted the offering.
However, on this day, God had clearly not accepted the sin offering that Aaron’s 4 sons had made. The deaths of Nadab and Abihu proved that. So it would be wrong for Eleazar and Ithamar to eat an offering that God did not accept. That was why they had to burn the sin offering.
This explanation satisfied Moses.
There aren't a lot of commentaries on Leviticus. It's so full of rules and regulations that the story line gets lost. Aaron had been with Moses since Egypt. Now Aaron's family was in a very dangerous position. Consider this though, this family was also related to Moses. These were Aaron's sons and they were nephews to Moses. This assignment had gone horribly wrong and now two of them were dead. They had to figure this out and fast.
