Page images
PDF
EPUB

36

gation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.

So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD COMmanded by the hand of Moses.

CHAP. IX.

Contains an account of Aaron's sin offering, and burnt offering for himself and the people; the people blessed; and of the fire from heaven consuming the burnt offering.

ND it came to pass on the eighth day, [that] Moses

2 And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer [them] before the LORD, to make atonement for thy3 self and the people, (v. 7.) And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, [both] of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering for the people; (v. 15.) 4 Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD and a meat offering mingled with oil: for today the LORD will appear unto you, in a glorious manner, (v. 56, 24.) And they brought [that] which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD, at the door of 6 the tabernacle, where the glory of the Lord appeared. And Moses said, This [is] the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the LORD, the glorious manifestation of God's powerful and gracious presence, (v. 24.) 7 shall appear unto you. And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people : and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.

8

Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of 9 the sin offering, which [was] for himself. And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put [it] upon the horns of the altar, and 10 poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar: But the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver of the sin offer. ing, he burnt upon the altar; as the LORD commanded Mo11 ses. And the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire without 12 the camp. And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round 13 about upon the altar. And they presented the burnt offer

ing unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head and he 14 burnt [them] upon the altar. And he did wash the inwards

and the legs, and burnt [them] upon the burnt offering on 15 the altar. And he brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which [was] the sin offering for the people, and slew it, 16 and offered it for sin, as the first. And he brought the burnt

offering, and offered it according to the manner, or ordinance. 17 And he brought the meat offering, and took an handful thereof and burnt [it] upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of 18 the morning. He slew also the bullock and the ram [for] a sacrifice of peace offerings, which [was] for the people and Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprink19 led upon the altar round about. And the fat of the bullock

and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth [the in20 wards,] and the kidneys, and the caul [above] the liver: And

they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon 21 the altar: And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron

waved [for] a wave offering before the LORD; as Moses 22 commanded. And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them; he prayed to God for his blessing upon them, and particularly for his gracious acceptance of these and all succeeding sacrifices; and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people a second time and the glory of the LORD, an extraordinary splendor, or brightness, appearing out of the cloudy pillar, (as Exodus xvi. 10,) appeared unto all the people, which was a token of 24 God's gracious acceptance of them and their services. And there came a fire, which was to be carefully kept, and not suffered to be extinguished, out from before the LORD, from the holy of holies, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat, in token of his approbation of the priesthood now instituted, and the sacrifices now offered; [which] when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces, wondering at, rejoicing in, and blessing God for this extraordinary and gracious discovery of himself, and his favour therein. See Gen. xvii. 3.

CHAP. X.

This is the next historical chapter to Exodus xxxiv. After the tabernacle was raised, and Aaron and his sons consecrated, he offered a sin offering and a burnt offering for himself and the people: when this was finished, he blessed the people in the name of God, and fire came down in token of God's acceptance of the priesthood and the sacrifices. Upon this, the people shouted with astonishment and joy, and fell on their faces to worship God. Then follows the melancholy story before us.

1

ND Nadab and Abihu, the two eldest sons of Aaron, who had been with him in the mount, and seen the glory of the Lord, took either of them his censer, or chafing dish, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, other than what was on the altar, which was sent from heaven, (ch. ix. 24.) which he commanded them not.* 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, from the sanctuary, or altar of burnt offering, and devoured them, struck them with sudden death, for neither their bodies nor clothes were consumed, and they died before the LORD; an awful providence, designed as 3 a warning to others. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This [is it] that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, be reverenced, and not mocked, or trifled with, (see Exodus xix. 22.) and before all the people I will be glorified, have the glory of my sovereignty acknowledged, by an exact conformity to my laws. And Aaron held his peace, in humble submission to this awful providence. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp, to the usual place of bury5 ing. So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said; in their consecrated garments, but which, being now polluted, by touching a dead body, must be worn no more. A sad, instructive, and affecting sight to 6 the whole camp! And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; put not off your priestly dress, nor put on the habit of mourning; let not the public service be inter rupted by your private afflictions; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kincled; let them lament the dishonour done to God, and be con7 vinced, that with him is terrible majesty. And ye shall not go

There might be some particular prohibition of this, though it is not come down to us. But probably this was not all, for it is generally supposed that the young men were intoxicated with pride or liquor, or both, and ventured into the holy place at a time not app pointed, and both together; whereas one priest alone was to burn incense on the golden

altar.

out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die for the anointing oil of the LORD [is] upon you: you are persons peculiarly consecrated to God's service; which therefore you must prefer before all funeral solemnities. And they did according to the word of Moses; which was an eminent act of obedience, in these mournful circumstances. 89 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations:* 10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, 11 and between unclean and clean, which they did not; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses, which persons inflamed with strong drink are unfit to do.

12

And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it [is] most holy : 13 And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it [is] thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: 14 for so I am commanded. And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place, in any place within the camp, so that it be free from ceremonial pollution; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for [they be] thy due, and thy sons' due, [which] are given out of the sacrifices of peace 15 offerings of the children of Israel. The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave [it for] a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the LORD hath commanded.

16

And Moses, notwithstanding his grief on this occasion, and his sympathy with Aaron and his sons, was very exact in the observance of every positive precept, and diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt; those parts of the goat were burnt upon the altar which they should have eaten themselves, (see ch. vi. 26.) and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron [which were] left [alive,] 17 saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it [is] most holy, and [God] hath given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD; as a reward for your services in bearing, that is, expiating, the sin of the people?

This seems to intimate that Nadab and Abihu had done so, v. I.

+ Moses reminds them of their duty, lest this affair should have put it out of their thoughts: this judgment was not so to affect them, as to make them forget their meat, or neglect their duty.

The priest's eating the sin offering of the people, signified, that their sin was in some sort laid upon him; hence we may see in what senso Christ is said to bear our sins.

18 Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy [place:] ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy [place :] as I commanded. Thus Moses reproved the sin of Aaron gently, knowing how much he was already afflicted, and not being willing 19 to increase it. And Aaron said unto Moses, as an excuse for his conduct, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; they have done the substance of the command, though one circumstance has been omitted and such things have befallen me, such a dreadful calamity, that my mind is overwhelmed with grief: and [if] I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD, when I could not rejoice before him, as I am commanded in this case to do? I chose therefore to give it wholly to God, rather than eat it in these melancholy circum20 stances. And when Moses heard [that,] he was content; because it was not a wilful contempt of God, and lest he should add affliction to the afflicted.

1.

REFLECTIONS.

Where This is what the Lord teaches us in this chap

E here learn with what reverence we should worship

ter, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified, v. 3. It is a lesson to Israel, to all its tribes, and to the church in all ages and generations. We see here that God is greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence by all that draw nigh unto him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth. Let us sanctify him in our hearts; considering him as the most holy being, who is of furer eyes than to behold iniquity. Let us glorify him before all the people, by making a public profession of our faith, and encouraging others to do so. God requires this of us; and if not done, he may justly punish us. Let us be careful that our worship be such as he requires of us; and not add to it any of our own inventions. It is a just and important remark of Bishop HALL, that It is a dangerous thing in the worship of God, to decline from his own institutions: we have to do with a Being who is wise to prescribe his own worship, just to require what he hath prescribed, and powerful to revenge what he hath not required. Let us keep close therefore to what the Lord hath said; and learn from this instructive story, as the apostle exhorts, Heb. xii. 29. (where he seems to allude to it) to serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.

2. How cautious should christian ministers be in the whole of their conduct! They are peculiarly obliged, by their relation to God, to glorify him; to display his glory before men; to be defenders of the divine honour; to be careful not to err through rashness or fancy; if they do, they are very unfit to separate

« PreviousContinue »