back to indexWed Bible Study - Lesson 10
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If you guys remember, chapter 8 and 9 was the inauguration of the sacrifices. 00:00:18.000 |
And the priests were cleansed, they were ordained, 00:00:23.000 |
and then the first sacrifice was given in chapter 9, the burden sacrifice. 00:00:29.000 |
And then in chapter 10, the sons. Aaron gives his sacrifice. 00:00:34.000 |
And so now we're in chapter 10 where his two sons, they begin to serve the temple, 00:00:40.000 |
or the tabernacle. And as you guys know, Adab and Nebihu, 00:00:44.000 |
because they offered up strange fire, they end up dying. 00:00:48.000 |
And so this is a very significant chapter because, 00:00:52.000 |
I mean, obviously every part of it is important, but the meaning behind it 00:00:56.000 |
and what God was teaching the nation of Israel through this 00:00:59.000 |
is not just to the nation of Israel. And I personally believe 00:01:03.000 |
that it's because we don't know this aspect of God, or very superficially. 00:01:09.000 |
And part of the reason why we have a superficial understanding of the gospel 00:01:13.000 |
and sanctification and worship and all of that is because 00:01:22.000 |
where it's almost strange to think that God would ever put anybody to death 00:01:27.000 |
for something like this. So again, we want to dive into chapter 10, 00:01:31.000 |
look at the details, and again, every part of this, it not only reveals 00:01:35.000 |
what God thinks about the tabernacle, it reveals something about his nature 00:01:45.000 |
And so that's the point of all of this. So let me pray first, 00:01:54.000 |
Heavenly Father, we come before you with heaviness of heart, 00:02:00.000 |
knowing, Father God, that just how weighty and important 00:02:10.000 |
Though we are no longer under the law because of Christ 00:02:14.000 |
and what he suffered on our behalf, help us to glean and understand 00:02:18.000 |
who you are and what it means to have a relationship 00:02:22.000 |
with the holy, holy, holy God. I pray, Father God, 00:02:26.000 |
that the revelation through chapter 10 would not just inform us 00:02:32.000 |
about the history of what has happened, but help us to know 00:02:36.000 |
where we are, where we stand, and how we got here. 00:02:41.000 |
That there would be a sense of weightiness to be in your presence, 00:02:46.000 |
to worship you, ultimately, Lord, to be in your presence for eternity. 00:02:52.000 |
So give us deeper understanding. Help us to have a fuller understanding 00:02:57.000 |
of who you are. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:03:01.000 |
So remember we talked about, just as a quick review, Exodus. 00:03:06.000 |
What was the theme of the book of Exodus? Remember how it ended? 00:03:11.000 |
God told them not to come because he's given the law. 00:03:17.000 |
If they come up to the mountain, they shall surely die. 00:03:20.000 |
He sets up the tabernacle, and then we get to chapter, 00:03:24.000 |
or in the book of Leviticus, and the theme of the book of Leviticus 00:03:27.000 |
is this holy God being in the presence of sinful man. 00:03:31.000 |
And he couldn't just do that. If he just came without going through 00:03:34.000 |
all of this, what would have happened to mankind? 00:03:37.000 |
They would have died, right? He says no man can see God and live. 00:03:42.000 |
And so the whole drama that we see in the book of Leviticus 00:03:45.000 |
is to create a way to cover for mankind's sin. 00:03:51.000 |
Because in the presence of God as they are, without the covering of blood, 00:03:56.000 |
they shall surely die. That's what the scripture says. 00:03:58.000 |
And then after he establishes the book of Leviticus, 00:04:01.000 |
in how this holy God can be in the presence of the nation of Israel, 00:04:05.000 |
we get to the book of Numbers where he invites people to the tabernacle, 00:04:11.000 |
So that's the kind of theme of these three books. 00:04:13.000 |
And so where we are in the book of Leviticus is God has been teaching 00:04:17.000 |
every single part of this is the nature of his holiness 00:04:22.000 |
and man's sinfulness and how that can be reconciled. 00:04:27.000 |
So Leviticus basically is the gospel message, every part of it. 00:04:31.000 |
But it's not just a simplistic gospel message where God is holy, man is sinful, 00:04:35.000 |
somebody died, and then so therefore we're good. 00:04:38.000 |
So that in and of itself obviously is the gospel. 00:04:40.000 |
But there's detailed aspects where God wanted Israel to know 00:04:55.000 |
There's sin where you touch something and you defile something. 00:04:59.000 |
There's burnt offering, there's peace offering. 00:05:01.000 |
So all of these things are descriptions of various kinds of sins 00:05:05.000 |
and how that needs to be dealt with to be in the presence of a holy God. 00:05:10.000 |
So in the context of that, chapter 10 basically is a warning 00:05:23.000 |
So can you imagine what happens to the nation of Israel after this? 00:05:27.000 |
I can imagine maybe some level of excitement before. 00:05:32.000 |
They were setting this whole up, it's like our God who delivered us 00:05:38.000 |
who caused us to cross the Red Sea, and he's going to be in our midst. 00:05:44.000 |
We're going to be able to make sacrifices, and he's allowing us to come to him. 00:05:48.000 |
So you can kind of imagine the excitement that may have been in the nation of Israel 00:05:53.000 |
as they were going through the setup of this tabernacle. 00:05:57.000 |
But can you imagine what happened after this? 00:06:01.000 |
I mean, who would dare come to the tabernacle? 00:06:08.000 |
It wasn't a rebellion against God, at least not on the surface. 00:06:13.000 |
But simply because they offered something that was not authorized. 00:06:20.000 |
So you can imagine what this did, and I think it was very deliberate. 00:06:25.000 |
God deliberately brings fear upon the nation of Israel 00:06:29.000 |
to give them an understanding of the seriousness of what it means to approach God. 00:06:35.000 |
And you can imagine after what happens in chapter 10 00:06:39.000 |
that every part of what God's been telling them up to this point, 00:06:43.000 |
they probably went back and combed through every part of it 00:06:49.000 |
I'm sure they've been paying attention, but imagine if they just kind of skimmed through 00:06:53.000 |
and they were kind of like, "Well, you know, we kind of got it." 00:06:56.000 |
I'll bet you after chapter 10, that was not the case. 00:06:59.000 |
Every single worshipper, every single priest probably combed through 00:07:03.000 |
everything that was taught to make sure that it was done properly, 00:07:18.000 |
Nadab and Abihu were the two eldest sons of Aaron. 00:07:21.000 |
He had four of them. They're mentioned in Leviticus 8.30. 00:07:26.000 |
And they were already ordained and ready to serve. 00:07:32.000 |
So chapter 10 was the beginning of the serving of Aaron's children. 00:07:42.000 |
We're not sure exactly what it is that they did. 00:07:45.000 |
All it says is that they gave up unauthorized fire. 00:07:54.000 |
So we don't know the details of what happened. He doesn't even explain. 00:07:58.000 |
He doesn't say, "I told them not to do this and they broke it." 00:08:02.000 |
All it says was they did something that they weren't supposed to do. 00:08:06.000 |
On the surface, they burned incense and looked like they were doing 00:08:10.000 |
what they were supposed to do, but it doesn't explain. 00:08:13.000 |
All it says is they did something that was not commanded, 00:08:18.000 |
which was a serious enough offense that it would bring fire and consume them. 00:08:26.000 |
So if the whole point of this tabernacle was to get people to come to him, 00:08:31.000 |
what happens in chapter 10 is going to throw a wrench in all of that. 00:08:43.000 |
God was very precise. He's been precise, but all the laws that we've seen up to this point, 00:08:50.000 |
it is not comprehensive. In fact, if you study the other parts of the Bible, 00:08:55.000 |
in Exodus and Chronicles, and you see various parts where they're actually practicing the sacrifices, 00:09:00.000 |
the laws were actually a lot more detailed than what's written in the book of Leviticus. 00:09:05.000 |
Leviticus is not comprehensive. So a lot of the stuff that we know about the sacrifices 00:09:11.000 |
are things that we learn from studying all of Scripture. 00:09:16.000 |
From the Chronicles, from the Kings, from Exodus, from Numbers. 00:09:20.000 |
And so we know that this particular thing about the incense, 00:09:25.000 |
he was so precise that he actually even tells them what material to use, 00:09:30.000 |
where they're supposed to get the coal, and even the time of day. 00:09:34.000 |
Like every morning that they're supposed to do this. 00:09:38.000 |
So I just put that up there just to inform just how precise God was with his law. 00:09:44.000 |
It was not like, "Okay, I want you to come and just bring this animal." 00:09:48.000 |
But even the way you handled it, where you laid your hand, where you ate, all of that. 00:09:53.000 |
How you dressed when you ate, when you were inside and outside, when you were to do it, 00:09:57.000 |
what coal, which hand, all of that was all prescribed in Scripture. 00:10:02.000 |
We don't know exactly what they violated, but we know that in Leviticus 9.24, 00:10:10.000 |
the first time the fire comes down from heaven, where God sends his angel, 00:10:15.000 |
it was to consume the burnt offering that Aaron gave in chapter 9. 00:10:20.000 |
So chapter 9 ends with Aaron giving the burnt offering, 00:10:24.000 |
and then God comes with this fire, consumes it. 00:10:27.000 |
Do you remember what happens as a result of that? 00:10:31.000 |
Chapter 9.24, "And fire came out from before the Lord, 00:10:35.000 |
and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar. 00:10:38.000 |
And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces." 00:10:45.000 |
People fell down, and it just kind of spontaneous worship happened 00:10:48.000 |
when the presence of God appears because of the fire. 00:10:53.000 |
But obviously, the second instance of the sacrifice does not lead to worship, but terror. 00:11:04.000 |
God speaks to Aaron through Moses to declare why his sons were killed in verse 3. 00:11:08.000 |
So we don't know exactly what it is, other than that it was unauthorized fire, 00:11:12.000 |
but the explanation given in verse 3 is that this is what the Lord has said, 00:11:20.000 |
"Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified." 00:11:31.000 |
Whoever has an NASB, can you just read it out loud for us? 00:12:12.000 |
So if you look at verse 3, the meaning is the same, but I think it's a bit more clear in the NASB, 00:12:18.000 |
because the NASB says, "I will be treated as holy." 00:12:24.000 |
In other words, whatever it was that they did, they didn't consider his holiness, 00:12:33.000 |
So they ignored some of the rules when they came to God. 00:12:38.000 |
So it was an act of irreverence toward him, this unauthorized fire. 00:12:44.000 |
It wasn't simply a mistake, it was irreverence toward God. 00:12:48.000 |
And this irreverence toward God was what led to this capital punishment. 00:12:53.000 |
In fact, we see the same thing in Numbers chapter 20, verse 12. 00:12:57.000 |
Can somebody turn to Numbers chapter 20, verse 12? 00:13:34.000 |
So in Numbers chapter 20, verse 12, the context of that is, 00:13:37.000 |
remember where they're about to enter the Promised Land, 00:13:40.000 |
and Israelites are complaining again, and Moses is just fed up with these people. 00:13:46.000 |
And they come before God, and God says, "Give them what they want. 00:13:51.000 |
We don't know exactly what it is that he did, 00:13:53.000 |
but what he did was not what God wanted him to do. 00:13:56.000 |
And so the water comes, and as a result of that, 00:13:58.000 |
he is banned from entering to the Promised Land. 00:14:02.000 |
For 40 years, he didn't even want to lead these people. 00:14:09.000 |
He persevered for 40 years with the whining and complaining, 00:14:13.000 |
and then right as he is entering the Promised Land, 00:14:16.000 |
that this offense was serious enough that he was banned from entering into the Promised Land. 00:14:30.000 |
So we're not exactly what it was that he did that showed irreverence, 00:14:37.000 |
And it was serious enough that this man who represented Israel, 00:14:44.000 |
was prevented from entering into the very thing that he probably was daydreaming about for 40 years. 00:14:53.000 |
So this sin of irreverence toward God is very, very, very serious. 00:15:00.000 |
That's the point that he's trying to make to the nation of Israel. 00:15:04.000 |
And he is consistent all throughout scripture, irreverence toward God. 00:15:15.000 |
Because if we don't understand the nature of who God is, 00:15:21.000 |
you can even as a Christian live the rest of your life centered around yourself. 00:15:28.000 |
You love God, don't love God based upon what he does or doesn't do for you. 00:15:33.000 |
We talk about lordship, but the lordship is just a word. 00:15:36.000 |
And so our affection for God, worship to God, and obedience to God 00:15:40.000 |
is all contingent upon what he is doing in my life, how he is answering my prayers. 00:15:47.000 |
But if you understand the nature of God and who it is that we worship, 00:15:55.000 |
it reorients our understanding of our own salvation. 00:16:00.000 |
And the whole point of all of this, it wasn't simply about a wrong attitude. 00:16:05.000 |
It's a complete wrong understanding of judgment, 00:16:13.000 |
So, again, let me just kind of go off tangent for just a minute. 00:16:19.000 |
If rebellion against God is self-centeredness, 00:16:25.000 |
God gave him the command and instead of obeying this, 00:16:28.000 |
"Do not eat of this tree," and he basically ignores it, 00:16:35.000 |
And it seems like a trivial thing that they did, 00:16:37.000 |
but at the core of it is their fighting against God for who's going to be central. 00:16:44.000 |
Is God going to be Lord or are you going to be Lord? 00:16:48.000 |
So even in our salvation, after we are saved, 00:16:51.000 |
if our whole life is centered around yourself, 00:16:56.000 |
how is that different than the rebellion at the Garden of Eden? 00:17:04.000 |
Because the whole point of man's sin was to say, "I am at the center." 00:17:10.000 |
So if we live our Christian lives with my needs and my desire 00:17:16.000 |
how is that any different than the rebellion of Adam and Eve? 00:17:22.000 |
So a man who has not given lordship to Christ 00:17:26.000 |
has not been reconciled in his relationship with God. 00:17:37.000 |
and is no different than the rebellion at the Garden of Eden 00:17:46.000 |
Because you can't be reconciled to God on your terms. 00:17:54.000 |
You cannot be reconciled to God on your terms. 00:17:57.000 |
So the whole point of the book of Leviticus is, 00:18:01.000 |
if you are going to come to God, these are the things that God is allowing. 00:18:06.000 |
And the reason why the blood of Christ needed to be shed 00:18:09.000 |
was that all of these things were just a shadow. 00:18:12.000 |
It's just to point to you that these are the things that are necessary for you to come. 00:18:16.000 |
And that's why Christ came and He fulfills it. 00:18:18.000 |
But the point of the fulfillment is to be reconciled to God, 00:18:22.000 |
to declare Him and His glory, to recognize Him and His glory. 00:18:33.000 |
"If we reflect how holy a thing God's worship is, 00:18:36.000 |
the enormity of the punishment will by no means offend us. 00:18:40.000 |
Besides, it was necessary that their religion should be sanctioned 00:18:46.000 |
For if God had suffered the sons of Aaron to transgress with impunity, 00:18:49.000 |
they would have afterwards carelessly neglected the whole law. 00:18:52.000 |
This, therefore, was the reason for such great severity 00:18:55.000 |
that priests should anxiously watch against all profanation." 00:19:00.000 |
So the whole point of all of this is to, from the very get-go, 00:19:04.000 |
that the rules and regulations that God gave were not just suggestions. 00:19:13.000 |
If you didn't follow it, you shall surely die. 00:19:15.000 |
Because you can't be in the presence of a holy God. 00:19:17.000 |
You can't be reconciled to God on your terms. 00:19:21.000 |
So all of these are given so that sinful man can be covered in his sin. 00:19:25.000 |
So when we come to God with strange fire, meaning on our terms, 00:19:29.000 |
natural things that's going to happen is you're going to die. 00:19:32.000 |
And that was the point that he was trying to make. 00:19:35.000 |
And as a result of that, it simply says Aaron held his tongue. 00:19:39.000 |
These are his children, first and second child. 00:19:42.000 |
They die right in front of him, and Aaron says nothing. 00:19:47.000 |
He probably knew what they did was a violation of God's law. 00:19:57.000 |
You remember the fact that Aaron is still alive 00:20:00.000 |
and is able to function as a high priest is a demonstration of his mercy 00:20:03.000 |
because you know what happened in the very beginning of Israel's history. 00:20:08.000 |
He's the guy who was responsible for the golden calf, 00:20:13.000 |
The fact that he actually is living is because of God's mercy. 00:20:18.000 |
So he was in no position to protest before God, 00:20:24.000 |
But we're going to see further just how serious this is. 00:20:49.000 |
are commanded to carry out Nadab and Abihu's bodies outside the camp. 00:20:53.000 |
So typically, family members were allowed to bury them, obviously, 00:20:59.000 |
but God wouldn't allow Aaron or his children to touch their bodies. 00:21:06.000 |
The reason behind that was that Aaron and his sons 00:21:13.000 |
are not permitted to mourn for their sons' brothers lest they die, 00:21:18.000 |
and the wrath of God be on the whole congregation, in verse 6. 00:21:22.000 |
"So Moses said to Aaron and Nethemar, his sons, 00:21:25.000 |
'Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, 00:21:30.000 |
and the wrath come upon all the congregation. 00:21:32.000 |
But lest your brothers and the whole house of Israel 00:21:34.000 |
be well the burning that the Lord has kindled.'" 00:21:38.000 |
"Do not let your hair on your heads hang loose, 00:21:59.000 |
in other words, God is basically preventing and saying, 00:22:12.000 |
but He won't allow them to bury His own children. 00:22:28.000 |
And He says three separate times, "Or you shall die." 00:22:31.000 |
So He gives regulations in verse 6, 7, and 9. 00:22:36.000 |
In other words, the seriousness of what you just saw, 00:22:39.000 |
that if you do not follow what I tell you to do, 00:22:49.000 |
That don't let what happened to them happen to you. 00:22:56.000 |
This was partly because they were the nearest 00:22:59.000 |
and there was some level of culpability of their sins 00:23:11.000 |
Just to kind of give context and understanding. 00:23:56.000 |
and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel." 00:24:04.000 |
"Don't touch anything because everything is under a ban." 00:24:07.000 |
Meaning God had determined that everything in there 00:24:13.000 |
Achan decides that he's going to take some of the choice things 00:24:24.000 |
And they take over 3,000 men to go over there, 00:24:32.000 |
They were able to go into Jericho without any problem, 00:24:40.000 |
And God says, "This is exactly--this is what happened. 00:24:42.000 |
I told you not to touch anything, but Achan sinned." 00:24:54.000 |
They have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them. 00:24:58.000 |
They have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings." 00:25:04.000 |
Achan's the only one who committed the sin, right? 00:25:08.000 |
So in other words, God's saying the reason why you weren't able to defeat Ai 00:25:11.000 |
was that the reason why you were able to defeat Jericho in the first place 00:25:16.000 |
And that was the whole purpose of that drama of going around, right, 00:25:29.000 |
It's when you obey, the Lord will be with you. 00:25:31.000 |
So when you disobey, even a small nation you can't conquer. 00:25:35.000 |
But the way he described the sin, he doesn't simply say Achan sinned. 00:25:41.000 |
And as a result of Israel's sin, these things have happened. 00:25:48.000 |
So Achan is going to be punished for this sin, 00:25:55.000 |
"So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, 00:26:06.000 |
Remember he said, "Israel, you have sinned," right? 00:26:11.000 |
So among Israel, they take the tribe of Judah. 00:26:14.000 |
"And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of Zerahites was taken." 00:26:21.000 |
"And then he brought near the clan of Zerahites man by man, 00:26:26.000 |
So from that group, he takes one by one from that family. 00:26:32.000 |
so he would bring his family from that group, 00:26:35.000 |
"and then the Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, 00:26:43.000 |
Why don't I just go into his house and get him and then punish him? 00:26:47.000 |
God made them all stand together, the whole nation of Israel, 00:26:51.000 |
and then goes into Judah, and then from Judah, 00:26:53.000 |
he would take the clan, from the clan, he would take the group, 00:26:56.000 |
and from that group, he would target the family, 00:27:09.000 |
and the nearer they were to the proximity of this man, 00:27:22.000 |
His clan was guilty, the next group, and after that was his tribe, 00:27:28.000 |
God didn't just say, "You sinned, and only you." 00:27:31.000 |
So again, in an individualistic culture like you and I, 00:27:37.000 |
where it's just me, I didn't commit it, it was them, 00:27:40.000 |
it's very difficult for us to understand this, 00:27:42.000 |
but in the biblical mindset, the way God sees it, 00:27:46.000 |
he does see us in the context of the community that we belong to. 00:27:53.000 |
It's like my brother's kippah, and the answer is yes. 00:27:58.000 |
In the community of the church, if there is sin in the church, 00:28:12.000 |
If we see sin, and we just sweep it under the rug, 00:28:15.000 |
and God judges, there's a stricter judgment upon the leadership, 00:28:27.000 |
but there is culpability, depending on how near you are. 00:28:32.000 |
Again, all of this is so that we can get an understanding 00:28:35.000 |
of how God sees sin, and how God brings punishment. 00:28:40.000 |
It is not just this individualistic thing that we see. 00:28:43.000 |
There is a responsibility for what we see around us. 00:28:52.000 |
because those two were their family and brothers. 00:28:57.000 |
And because Nehemiah and Nebihu's death was a capital punishment, 00:29:01.000 |
they were not even allowed to leave the tabernacle 00:29:04.000 |
to join the physical mourning of their brothers and sons. 00:29:08.000 |
In other words, they were told to go about their business 00:29:20.000 |
But that's how weighty, that's how serious this was. 00:29:23.000 |
And if Aaron and his children were going to do this, 00:29:29.000 |
And he said, "If you don't, you shall surely die." 00:29:43.000 |
Up to now, God only spoke to Aaron through Moses. 00:29:47.000 |
Moses was the mediator between Israel and God up to this point. 00:29:52.000 |
But for the first time in verse 8, God speaks directly to Aaron. 00:30:10.000 |
In other words, they took it very seriously, what God said. 00:30:14.000 |
God said not to touch, not to mourn, not to leave, 00:30:16.000 |
and they did exactly what God told them to do, and they obey. 00:30:22.000 |
And as a result of that, this points to the fact 00:30:27.000 |
and now functions as God's mediator to the people. 00:30:37.000 |
at the very get-go of the service of the tabernacle. 00:30:42.000 |
Can you imagine going to work on the very first day? 00:30:48.000 |
and after that, how terrified you would be to come to work. 00:31:07.000 |
So imagine what God was trying to teach Aaron 00:31:24.000 |
You're talking about a visual, emotional, physical, social 00:31:29.000 |
ramification of his holiness in the presence of sinful man. 00:31:33.000 |
So when he says sinful people in the presence of God 00:31:47.000 |
You cannot be in the presence of God on your own terms, period. 00:31:59.000 |
God forbids Aaron and his sons not to drink wine or strong drink. 00:32:08.000 |
Some speculated that possibly Nader and Nebihu may have been drunk. 00:32:18.000 |
In fact, you see it oftentimes with the prophets and various people. 00:32:23.000 |
But probably a better understanding of that was, 00:32:27.000 |
we see the Nazarite vow in the Old Testament, 00:32:30.000 |
that when an individual was completely devoted to God for his service, 00:32:35.000 |
that part of his vow was not to touch strong drink. 00:32:40.000 |
And again, to keep his mind and his body ready and alert in service at all times. 00:32:45.000 |
So again, God says to come to serve at the tabernacle, 00:32:51.000 |
God is demanding that they are kept completely pure. 00:33:10.000 |
So in verse 12 to 20, we see three separate sacrifices. 00:33:17.000 |
It doesn't say grain offering, peace offering, and sin offering, 00:33:20.000 |
but if you look at the details, how it describes, 00:33:23.000 |
it's a description of these three sacrifices. 00:33:28.000 |
To eat the grain offering, basically he said go back to business, 00:33:36.000 |
in the grain offering, make sure that you eat this in the holy place. 00:33:41.000 |
and make sure that you eat it in a clean place. 00:33:44.000 |
And then third, he talks about the purification offering, 00:33:47.000 |
and what to do with that. He was to eat that. 00:33:57.000 |
That the priest eating this stuff, eating the sacrifices, 00:34:08.000 |
Remember we talked about how God prescribes specifically what they can and cannot eat, 00:34:16.000 |
Because the eating was part of the sacrifice. 00:34:23.000 |
It wasn't just, hey, we have food, now we get to eat, 00:34:25.000 |
and just kind of go, and like any other time we eat. 00:34:30.000 |
And so Moses gets angry because they do the first and second, 00:34:36.000 |
but when it comes to the purification offering, 00:34:45.000 |
So Moses gets angry because he just told them, 00:34:48.000 |
if you don't know exactly what I tell you to do, 00:34:51.000 |
you shall surely die, you shall surely die, you shall surely die. 00:34:54.000 |
They just saw what happened to his two children. 00:34:57.000 |
And so can you imagine Moses, like, I just told you this, 00:35:00.000 |
and you're, you know, right after you just saw what happened, 00:35:08.000 |
That's the scene that we see in chapter 12, chapter 10, 12-20. 00:35:15.000 |
in the case of sin offering, the right to eat meat 00:35:18.000 |
was dependent upon where the blood was sprinkled. 00:35:23.000 |
So if the blood was smeared inside the tent of meeting, 00:35:26.000 |
the animal's carcass was burned outside the camp. 00:35:29.000 |
If, however, the blood was smeared on the altar of the burnt offering, 00:35:33.000 |
outside the tent meeting, the priests were entitled to eat the meat. 00:35:37.000 |
So again, these instructions are so specific. 00:35:41.000 |
If they were smeared in the tent, it meant that this was not to be eaten. 00:35:50.000 |
But if it was smeared on the altar, the priests were commanded 00:35:56.000 |
But this is the part where they didn't follow. 00:35:58.000 |
They did the other two, but on the third one, they didn't eat. 00:36:05.000 |
because it seemed like Aaron and his sons again dishonored God 00:36:10.000 |
So if you look at verse 19, "And Aaron said to Moses, 00:36:21.000 |
'Behold, today they have offered their sin offering 00:36:25.000 |
and yet such things as these have happened to me. 00:36:27.000 |
If I have eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?'" 00:36:33.000 |
it wasn't because I was being irreverent or dishonored God. 00:36:37.000 |
It was because of what they experienced with Nadab and Abihu, 00:36:41.000 |
that they said they were giving burnt offering and sin offering, 00:36:51.000 |
it wasn't because we didn't fear God, it was because we feared God 00:36:59.000 |
So even though he didn't obey, he said, "Well, we wanted to, 00:37:04.000 |
And they were in the context of giving the sin offering, 00:37:07.000 |
and the offering, and because they did it wrong. 00:37:09.000 |
So we didn't want to get it wrong, and we didn't want to die. 00:37:17.000 |
And the reason why it sufficed Moses was because 00:37:19.000 |
the whole point of this was for God to be shown holy. 00:37:29.000 |
And so Aaron, on the surface, looked like he was dishonoring God, 00:37:36.000 |
but Aaron's answer basically flipped that script around and said, 00:37:41.000 |
It was because we were recognizing it as holy." 00:37:45.000 |
And as a result of that, they're allowed to go about their business. 00:37:50.000 |
Now that's the story of Nadab and Abihu, chapter 10. 00:37:58.000 |
because you and I have been studying the detailed information 00:38:02.000 |
that God has been giving in the book of Leviticus 00:38:10.000 |
Is there a reflection of this in the New Testament? 00:38:24.000 |
Leviticus is the ratification of the first covenant. 00:38:30.000 |
God gives the law, and then he gives the tabernacle, 00:38:33.000 |
and then he gives the rules on how to approach God. 00:38:36.000 |
And then so chapter 10 basically is the beginning 00:38:39.000 |
of a relationship with the holy God and sinful people. 00:38:45.000 |
God's presence coming, and then the very first encounter 00:38:48.000 |
of a holy God and sinful people ends in death. 00:38:52.000 |
Chapter 5 is where the Holy Spirit comes down in chapter 2, 00:39:01.000 |
So his church, right, his church which replaces the tabernacle 00:39:10.000 |
The very first event that is recorded as a whole in chapter 5, 00:39:14.000 |
if you guys know this story, Ananas and Sapphira, 00:39:17.000 |
they sell their land, and then they lie to the church 00:39:22.000 |
saying that this is all of it, and the Holy Spirit reveals 00:39:27.000 |
It's only half of it, and as a result of it, what happens? 00:39:33.000 |
Ananias, why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? 00:39:37.000 |
So Sapphira comes and backs up her husband's story, 00:39:45.000 |
"And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things." 00:39:50.000 |
Does that sound a lot like what we just read in chapter 10 of Leviticus? 00:40:01.000 |
Inauguration of the tabernacle leads to death, 00:40:04.000 |
and fear probably came upon the nation of Israel, 00:40:12.000 |
The apostles, who function like the priests, kind of, 00:40:16.000 |
because they were the ones initially sent to bring the gospel, 00:40:19.000 |
and their first encounter in the church ends in death. 00:40:23.000 |
And as a result of that, there is great fear. 00:40:28.000 |
This is not the Old Testament. This is the New Testament. 00:40:43.000 |
did people die immediately, as soon as they broke the law? 00:40:55.000 |
Now, sometimes God will punish them immediately, 00:40:58.000 |
sometimes it took a while, sometimes they lived for generations. 00:41:03.000 |
But in the inauguration, it was made very clear that this is serious. 00:41:09.000 |
In the inauguration of the church, we see the same thing. 00:41:12.000 |
Fear comes upon them, and as a result, you would think that people would run. 00:41:17.000 |
He said people were afraid to associate with the apostles because of this fear, 00:41:23.000 |
but he said the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. 00:41:27.000 |
So part of God's work, like the power of the gospel, 00:41:31.000 |
and the power of the early church, is to recognize His presence. 00:41:36.000 |
Because that's the whole point of the gospel, 00:41:38.000 |
is not people, is not the small group, is not your leaders, is not the pastor, 00:41:44.000 |
is to be reconciled to a holy, holy, holy God. 00:41:59.000 |
You can complain about the church, you can complain about the people, 00:42:01.000 |
you can complain about the style of teaching, 00:42:08.000 |
If that was not clear in the Old Testament, it is absolutely clear in the New Testament. 00:42:12.000 |
That's why Paul says when the Corinthians were divided and it was causing all kinds of chaos, 00:42:17.000 |
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God?" 00:42:21.000 |
Now when he says that, what do you think he was-- 00:42:26.000 |
A temple of God is nothing to be messed with. 00:42:29.000 |
You think the nation of Israel ever forgot about what happened to Nadab and Nebihu? 00:42:38.000 |
"You're treating the church as if it's not sacred, 00:42:42.000 |
and you're willing to divide, allow all kinds of sins and chaos to come into the church, 00:42:46.000 |
do you not know that your body is a temple of God?" 00:42:52.000 |
Not recognizing that this is where God has chosen to dwell. 00:42:56.000 |
This is his church. The head of the church is Christ. 00:43:04.000 |
So the fact that you and I are somehow connected with Christ, 00:43:08.000 |
in and of itself requires sacredness and reverence. 00:43:11.000 |
And so when the scripture says to live out your salvation with what? 00:43:22.000 |
All this stuff is connected. It's not out of the blue. 00:43:24.000 |
This is what he's been teaching the nation of Israel. 00:43:27.000 |
So when Christ came and he walked, that's why people had a hard time. 00:43:39.000 |
Because again, the idea that we have in the New Testament 00:43:48.000 |
Like yes, he did serve. He was on his knees and he washed our feet. 00:43:53.000 |
But the Christ that we see, that was a period when he humbled himself, became nothing. 00:43:58.000 |
But so many people still have this image of Christ as a servant serving us. 00:44:06.000 |
He humbled himself, therefore, what does it say? 00:44:10.000 |
That every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord. 00:44:16.000 |
If you see Jesus coming in the second coming, how does he come? 00:44:25.000 |
He came and humbled himself and served us and washed our feet to set an example. 00:44:29.000 |
But because ultimately he came to take us to go to the cross and die for us and cover our sins. 00:44:45.000 |
And when we get that mixed up, that's when we start having problems of understanding where our purpose in life. 00:44:52.000 |
The whole problem of mankind is that we try to put ourselves at the center. 00:45:02.000 |
The answer to your sins and the answer to being right with God is recognizing that you and I are no longer at the center. 00:45:15.000 |
And as much as sinful man comes to God kicking and screaming, the moment you are no longer at the center of your life, you are free. 00:45:29.000 |
Not recognizing the bondage of mankind is this lust of wanting to feed this flesh to be at the center. 00:45:39.000 |
But the moment you let go and you die, you are free. 00:45:44.000 |
And even as Christians, the greatest freedom is when you are lost in Christ. 00:45:55.000 |
When you recognize who he is, and in light of recognizing who you are, and you no longer matter. 00:46:05.000 |
And that kind of sounds like, "Well, that kind of sounds like God doesn't care." 00:46:09.000 |
No. That's what God is telling us. He cared for us so much. 00:46:22.000 |
Okay, I have a couple of few verses that I want to give to you before. 00:46:49.000 |
Let me just read a few verses. 1 Peter 4, 17, "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. 00:46:54.000 |
And if this begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" 00:47:05.000 |
The word "glory" basically means something weighty, heavy. 00:47:10.000 |
There needs to be a sense of heaviness in the way we approach God. 00:47:16.000 |
There needs to be a sense of heaviness in the way we read his scripture. 00:47:20.000 |
There has to be a sense of heaviness in the church. 00:47:23.000 |
That we are not to run this church any way we please. 00:47:27.000 |
And that's why the first vision of our church is God-centered worship, not man-centered. 00:47:33.000 |
We don't make decisions based upon what may make you the happiest. 00:47:38.000 |
There are some things that you say, "Well, if we did this, it would be so much better. 00:47:41.000 |
If we did this, so many people would be satisfied. And if we keep it like this, keep it like that." 00:47:47.000 |
Well, not to say that those things aren't important, but it's not central. 00:47:52.000 |
The central thing that we're concerned about is how is God honored. 00:47:59.000 |
That's the backbone of any church, not just Beroean Community Church, any church. 00:48:03.000 |
Because it's not our church. It's his church. 00:48:08.000 |
The first thing that he says before we're so concerned about the world, 00:48:11.000 |
he says make sure that the church is his church first. 00:48:19.000 |
We can't make salvation of the world primary. 00:48:27.000 |
Salvation of the world is not primary. God's glory is the primary. 00:48:33.000 |
It's the primary because he's the one who's offended. 00:48:37.000 |
He's the one who's been offended, not the world. 00:48:45.000 |
He's the one we need to worship. He's the one that we need to be concerned about. 00:48:48.000 |
And so a part of worshiping God means to obey and go to the remotest part of the world and bring them to him. 00:48:59.000 |
So honoring God in the church, honoring God in my life is primary. 00:49:05.000 |
Not how you feel, not who likes you, not who reached out to you, who didn't reach out to you, 00:49:10.000 |
or how you feel at church, that's not primary. 00:49:14.000 |
Primary is God being worshipped and honored in our lives. 00:49:22.000 |
James 3.1, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brother, 00:49:26.000 |
for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." 00:49:30.000 |
So if we're going to make God primary, we need to make sure that the leaders who represent the church 00:49:34.000 |
are first and foremost people who have reverence toward the things of God. 00:49:42.000 |
That they need to understand the weightiness of what it is. 00:49:45.000 |
So therefore, all this other stuff about being above reproach and able to teach, 00:49:49.000 |
all of these things are all summarized in what's being said here. 00:49:53.000 |
Leadership is not something to covet, because leadership means that there is a stricter judgment that comes upon you. 00:50:08.000 |
Now obviously, we're all children of God, but to be a leader in the church, 00:50:13.000 |
to represent the holy presence of God in the church, because there's greater damage when you sin. 00:50:20.000 |
It's one thing for a Christian to sin, "Oh, that guy's a pastor and he's doing that? 00:50:24.000 |
That guy's an elder and he's doing that? That guy's a deacon and he's doing that?" 00:50:28.000 |
Because it reflects poorly on God, a holy, holy, holy God. 00:50:32.000 |
So there may be a high view of God, means high view of church, means high view of leadership. 00:50:38.000 |
So we don't just plug people in, because there's a need. 00:50:43.000 |
So they might get things done and maybe things will go smoother, 00:50:49.000 |
but our ultimate goal is not to make sure everything goes smoother. 00:50:53.000 |
Our ultimate goal is to make sure that God is being honored. 00:50:56.000 |
Even if all the logistics in the church falls apart, we need to make sure that God is honored, first and foremost. 00:51:02.000 |
And we can't do that if we don't have a high view of God, high view of church, high view of leadership. 00:51:07.000 |
And then Luke 12, 48, again, as I said, "But the one who did not know and did what deserved the beating 00:51:17.000 |
will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, 00:51:23.000 |
and from him to him they entrusted much, they will demand more." 00:51:27.000 |
Again, to have a high view of God, high view of the church, high view of leadership, 00:51:32.000 |
and high view of fellowship, high view of his word, right? 00:51:37.000 |
Anything that is related to God, there has to be a sense of reverence. 00:51:41.000 |
I hope that really came through in today's study. 00:51:46.000 |
Because generally as a whole, people in our culture where you and I live, it's just missing. 00:51:57.000 |
And that's why one of the most primary questions that people get is, 00:52:03.000 |
"If God is so loving, why does he not do this?" 00:52:08.000 |
You see how that question in and of itself would be offensive to a holy God? 00:52:15.000 |
Where we offended him, we're the ones deserving of judgment, 00:52:19.000 |
he sends his only begotten son to cover us with his blood, 00:52:22.000 |
and then we question him for not obeying and listening to us. 00:52:27.000 |
You see how offensive that questioning in and of itself would be? 00:52:32.000 |
Because that question in and of itself is revealing that we know nothing of this God. 00:52:40.000 |
Because if we knew anything of this God, there would be trembling and fear. 00:52:46.000 |
How? Because that's exactly what it says in the book of Revelation. 00:52:50.000 |
When Christ comes, what happens to the sinners? 00:52:55.000 |
They hide because they're terrified of his presence. 00:52:59.000 |
And that's how God is revealed to us in the scriptures. 00:53:02.000 |
And that's why when we talk about the blood of Christ covering, what does he cover us? 00:53:07.000 |
He covers us to protect us from what? From the wrath of God. 00:53:12.000 |
From God's own wrath, we are covered by his blood. 00:53:16.000 |
So again, the questions that, some of it I already talked about. 00:53:22.000 |
Considering what we have studied today, what do you think should be the most important quality of any leader in the church? 00:53:27.000 |
I kind of mentioned it, but it takes some time to discuss that. 00:53:30.000 |
Do you think there is enough reverence for the things of God in the way you practice your Christian life? 00:53:36.000 |
And again, I hear all the time people saying like, you know, like arguing adamantly about gray areas. 00:53:44.000 |
And my point is not to talk about the gray areas of where you should or should not. 00:53:50.000 |
If you live your whole life where it might or might not be OK with God. 00:53:56.000 |
That in and of itself already already tells you you're not considering God. 00:54:02.000 |
If I knew who God was, I want to make sure that my life, my whole life is lived in white. 00:54:10.000 |
You understand what I'm saying? If you really knew who God was. 00:54:14.000 |
Yes, we have freedom in Christ. And I think that I think it's very dangerous to start identifying that this is sin. 00:54:19.000 |
This is not sin. And and start to decipher for people. 00:54:24.000 |
But the whole point of arguing for gray area already tells you that that person has no understanding of who it is that they worship. 00:54:36.000 |
In what way does our reverence show in the way that we think, the way we make decisions, how we live our life? 00:54:42.000 |
Three, if the church is the New Testament temple of God and the corporate worship that our most important act of sacrifice we give to God. 00:54:50.000 |
How should we treat it with greater reverence? 00:54:53.000 |
Are we nonchalant about the way we worship God? 00:54:56.000 |
Are we irreverent? Do we recognize that we're coming into his holy presence? 00:55:00.000 |
And I know I mentioned this several times before, but the corporate worship is probably the most sacred time for any Christian. 00:55:07.000 |
Right. Because that's where we it's it's more sacred than your personal worship. 00:55:13.000 |
So is the most sacred thing that any Christian does in his life after he becomes a Christian. 00:55:17.000 |
Is that something that that you think that you are you are you recognize and revere? 00:55:23.000 |
Be specific. And then number four, how do you strike a balance between First John 418 and Philippians 2. 00:55:29.000 |
So Philippians 2 tells us to live out your life with fear and trembling. 00:55:33.000 |
First John 418 says love casts out fear. Right. 00:55:38.000 |
So I sometimes I hear people quoting one verse over the other and then back and forth. 00:55:42.000 |
And and obviously they're both in scripture. What does that mean? How do you balance that? 00:55:47.000 |
You know, like do we live our life constantly in fear that God's going to judge us? 00:55:50.000 |
And obviously we said love casts out fear. And then you have the other side where it says, well, God loves me. 00:55:56.000 |
So there is no judgment. I do whatever I want because that's what the scripture says. 00:55:59.000 |
And yet the scripture says, live out your salvation with fear and trembling. Right. 00:56:04.000 |
And we see that we see that not only in the Old Testament, even in the New Testament. 00:56:08.000 |
So how do we balance that? Right. How do you apply that practically where where one or the other is not being ignored? 00:56:15.000 |
Right. So let me pray for us. Then I'll release you to your small group. 00:56:33.000 |
We know that this is something that we don't fully understand. 00:56:38.000 |
We've only seen a glimpse of your glory, of your holiness, Lord God, of what you've told us and what we've seen in scripture. 00:56:48.000 |
And maybe to various degrees, Lord God. That we understand and we've encountered you. 00:56:57.000 |
But even in our deepest understanding, Lord, we are so far. 00:57:03.000 |
Help us, Lord God, to recognize what it is to fall short of your glory. 00:57:15.000 |
To understand the grace that we're in and the gospel that you've given us, that we truly may live worthy of this gospel. 00:57:23.000 |
I pray for our church. I pray for our individual brothers and sisters. 00:57:30.000 |
That a sense of reverence, of holiness and your presence, Lord God, would change our mindset that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ. 00:57:41.000 |
That glorifying Christ and pointing to who he is may be our life, our joy, our comfort, our salvation. 00:57:53.000 |
So what we are weak in doing by our own flesh, we pray your Holy Spirit would lead and guide us. 00:57:58.000 |
Bless our time, Lord God, as we have our time of discussion. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.