LEVITICUS 24


     We will begin this lesson in Leviticus 9:15  "And he brought the
people's offering, and took the goat, which [was] the sin offering for
the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin, as the first."

     In this lesson, I will not get into every little detail about
what each item symbolizes. We dealt with those things in a previous
lesson. I will, however, remind all of us about some of the important
differences in each offering. The most important thing to remember
here, is that the offering for the entire congregation was the same as
for the priest. This, again, indicates that the priest will pay a
higher price for his sins, because he sinned in knowledge.

     Leviticus 9:16 "And he brought the burnt offering, and offered it
according to the manner."

     The thing that stands out to me in this is, that Aaron has
learned his lesson well, and he is doing the offerings in the proper
order.

     Leviticus 9:17 And he brought the meat offering, and took an
handful thereof, and burnt [it] upon the altar, beside the burnt
sacrifice of the morning."

     We must not forget, that the meat offering had no animal flesh
involved. It contained the elements to make bread. Jesus is the Bread
of life. Jesus spoke of His flesh as the Bread. John 6:51 "I am the
living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."  This Scripture
in John makes it very clear why this offering of bread is called meat.
It symbolizes the flesh of Jesus.

     Leviticus 9:18 "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 sprinkled upon the altar
round about,"

     The important thing to remember is, that Jesus is our peace.
Ephesians 2:14 "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition [between us];"

     Leviticus 9:19 "And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the
rump, and that which covereth [the inwards], and the kidneys, and the
caul [above] the liver:" Leviticus 9:20 "And they put the fat upon the
breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar:"

     The fat in every offering was God's. The rump, here, was actually
the fat tail of the animal. The fat and all of these inward parts were
to be burned as a sweet savour to the LORD. The breast was not burned
here. It was just the fat and inwards burned.

     Leviticus 9:21 "And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron
waved [for] a wave offering before the LORD; as Moses commanded."

     This waving of the breast and shoulder was raising it up to God
in offering, that God might bless it for their consumption later. The
priest would eat this breast after it was properly cooked such as
boiling or baking.

     Leviticus 9:22 And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people,
and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and
the burnt offering, and peace offerings.

     Up until this time, all blessings of God spoken on the people had
been done by Moses. Now Aaron is taking on his job as high priest. He
is speaking a blessing that actually came from God, but God used him
to speak it. This lifting up his hands toward heaven showed that Aaron
knew where his power came from. All of the offerings had foreshadowed
the sacrifice that Jesus would make for us all. This sin offering
showed the placing of the sin on the one being offered. Our sins were
placed on Jesus and He became our substitute {in the sin offering}. In
the burnt offering, we see Christ offered up to God {a sweet savour to
God}. I believe the statement {not my will but thine} is covered in
this offering, as we said earlier in this lesson. Jesus is our peace.
We could say in the peace offering, not by works, but by grace am I
saved. All of these offerings are made in a small time period. It is
really impossible to separate them totally. They all symbolize some
aspect of what God did for all believers through Jesus Christ.

     Leviticus 9:23 "And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of
the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory
of the LORD appeared unto all the people."

     We sing a little chorus at our church which says {I want to see
Jesus}. I believe that is the desire of all true believers in Christ.
I refuse to worship in any church where the presence of God is absent.
We know that the presence of God was in the sanctuary in the holy of
holies. Remember, the congregation could not go into that area. The
presence of Moses and Aaron, here, shows the people that God speaks
through them both. This glory spoken of here, I believe, is the
Shekinah glory of God. In this the people would not see the face of
God, but a great presence of light. This Light would be the same Light
that Paul encountered on the road to Damascus when his life was
totally transformed. Acts 9:3 "And as he journeyed, he came near
Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from
heaven:" We know that man can not see the face of God and live. This
is a presence of God that cannot be denied, such as a very bright
light. Many times throughout the Bible, God has appeared to someone.
Usually he appears in some form of fire, or smoke made by fire, or a
light.

     Leviticus 9:24 "And there came a fire out from before the LORD,
and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: [which]
when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces."
     There was fire already present on the altar for these offerings.
Generally the fire under the offerings would take the period of a full
day to consume the offering. This was an unusual fire then. Look in
the following verse what God calls Himself. Hebrews 12:29 "For our God
[is] a consuming fire." This fire, that totally consumes this offering
then is the fire of God, which came from the holy of holies and
consumed these offerings. This very same thing happened when Solomon
dedicated the great temple in Jerusalem. II Chronicles 7:1 "Now when
Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven,
and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of
the LORD filled the house." This is the very same thing that happened
to Moses, Aaron, and the people here. God was so pleased, that He
overwhelmed them with His presence. His immediate consumption of the
offering showed that He was greatly pleased with their offering.  One
more time that I think shows this same thing so strongly, is when
Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call fire from heaven. If
they had consumed the offering with fire, they would win. If Elijah's
God consumed his offering, they were all to follow Elijah's God. Let
us see what happened. I Kings 18:19 "Now therefore send, [and] gather
to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four
hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which
eat at Jezebel's table." I Kings 18:20 "So Ahab sent unto all the
children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount
Carmel."  I Kings 18:21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and
said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God,
follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered
him not a word." I Kings 18:22 "Then said Elijah unto the people, I,
[even] I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets [are]
four hundred and fifty men." I Kings 18:23 "Let them therefore give us
two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut
it in pieces, and lay [it] on wood, and put no fire [under]: and I
will dress the other bullock, and lay [it] on wood, and put no fire
[under]:"  I Kings 18:24 "And call ye on the name of your gods, and I
will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire,
let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well
spoken." I Kings 18:25 "And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal,
Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress [it] first; for ye
[are] many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire
[under]." I Kings 18:26 "And they took the bullock which was given
them, and they dressed [it], and called on the name of Baal from
morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But [there was] no
voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was
made."  I Kings 18:27 "And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked
them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or
he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or] peradventure he sleepeth,
and must be awaked." I Kings 18:28 And they cried aloud, and cut
themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood
gushed out upon them." I Kings 18:29 "And it came to pass, when midday
was past, and they prophesied until the [time] of the offering of the
[evening] sacrifice, that [there was] neither voice, nor any to
answer, nor any that regarded." I Kings 18:30 "And Elijah said unto
all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto
him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD [that was] broken down." I
Kings 18:31 "And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of
the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came,
saying, Israel shall be thy name:"  I Kings 18:32 "And with the stones
he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about
the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed." I Kings
18:33 "And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces,
and laid [him] on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water,
and pour [it] on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood." I Kings 18:34
"And he said, Do [it] the second time. And they did [it] the second
time. And he said, Do [it] the third time. And they did [it] the third
time." I Kings 18:35 "And the water ran round about the altar; and he
filled the trench also with water." I Kings 18:36 "And it came to pass
at [the time of] the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that Elijah
the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of
Israel, let it be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel, and
[that] I [am] thy servant, and [that] I have done all these things at
thy word." I Kings 18:37 "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people
may know that thou [art] the LORD God, and [that] thou hast turned
their heart back again."  I Kings 18:38 "Then the fire of the LORD
fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones,
and the dust, and licked up the water that [was] in the trench."
I Kings 18:39 "And when all the people saw [it], they fell on their
faces: and they said, The LORD, he [is] the God; the LORD, he [is] the
God."  The effect of the extreme presence of God is always the same.
They fall on their face to worship Him. This manifestation is so
great, it leaves no doubt that this is God. Read the rest of chapter
18 of 1 Kings to get the full story.

     To sum up this lesson, Moses has followed God's instructions.
Aaron is installed as high priest. God is pleased, and the people
realize this is God's plan, and not man's plan.

























                             Questions 24

1.  What was different in the people's offering and the priest's
    offering?
2.  What lesson can we learn in this?
3.  What is strange about the meat offering, being called meat?
4.  What do the elements of the meat offering make up?
5.  Who is the Bread?
6.  What does the offering of bread as a meat offering symbolize?
7.  Who is the Christian's peace?
8.  The fat in every offering belonged to whom?
9.  The fat burned made a _____ ______ to God.
10. What did the waving of the breast symbolize?
11. Who had spoken the blessings of God to the people, before Aaron
    was ordained?
12. What did the fact that Aaron raised his hands toward heaven
    symbolize?
13. Jesus was our _________ for our sin, in the sin offering.
14. Jesus was a sweet savour unto God for us in which offering?
15. In which offering was Jesus our peace?
16. What is the desire of every true Christian?
17. Where was the presence of God ordinarily, in the tabernacle in the
    wilderness?
18. What does the author believe the glory of the LORD to be?
19. Who did this glory appear to?
20. What did Paul see, when the glory of the LORD appeared to him?
21. What did the Fire do that came out in front of the people?
22. What effect did this have on the people?
23. What happened when Solomon had finished praying, when the temple
    in Jerusalem was dedicated to God?
24. What did this immediate consumption of the offering by God show
    the people?
25. What false god did Elijah and the real God discredit on Mount
    Carmel?
26. How many prophets of Baal prayed to their false god?
27. How long did they pray?
28. Did their long prayer help?
29. What other obstacle did Elijah place before God?
30. What happened when Elijah prayed to the real God?
31. What effect did this have on the people?
32. Sum up this lesson.