Today's reading began with the ordination of Aaron and his sons, where they were set apart for the sole purpose of serving God on behalf of Israel. Just about every wave, fellowship, grain, guilt, and sin offering was made in the ceremony. I think the point of all of sacrifices and offerings was to make sure that Aaron and his sons were completely pure and holy before starting their service to God and the Israelites.
I think there is a second reason, as well. They had to go through just about every type of sacrifice and ceremony during the ordination. I wonder if this was a "dry run". God had just laid down all of the rules surrounding the purification of the people. I think this was the first time that they had attempted to do them all properly. It makes sense to me that they would go through every single ritual because they would want to make the consecration of their religious leaders a truly special event.
So, they went through their ceremony and there was stuff on the altar. At the end of Lev. 9, the priests come out and bless the people. The glory of the LORD appears. Then a fire "from the presence of the LORD" came and burned up all of the offerings. The people are overjoyed and worship with their faces down. Fire blazing from Heaven would be a sight to see.
After the all consuming fire from God at the end of chapter 9, chapter 10 starts with some "unauthorized fire" (Ex. 10:1). Aaron's sons put fire in some incense bowls and added incense to God, but for some reason this was not acceptable. So, the fire from the presence of the LORD came out and consumed the sons. God said that he would show himself holy and the people would honour him. What I find interesting is that in the next sentence, it says, "Aaron remained silent" (Ex. 10:3). Was this shock, horror, awe, disgust, or grief? I do not know. But I know that I would be speechless and wrenched with sorrow if my sons were killed like that. My study Bible says that a possible reason for the death of his sons is that God had to be harsh to teach the Israelites that they existed for his purposes, not the other way around. Somehow, though, it still bothers me.
After the ceremony and bad stuff, God tells them what is clean and unclean.
Split hoof + cud chewing = clean.
Not Split hoof + cud chewing = unclean.
Split hoof + not cud chewing = unclean.
If from the water, scales + fins = clean.
If from the water, not scales + fins = unclean.
If from the water, scales + not fins = unclean.
All bugs unclean except locusts, katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers.
I do not know if the clean/unclean rules were to protect desert nomads before the days of cooking thermometers, antibiotics, and other modern medicine stuff from the ravages of possible disease from potentially hazardous meat products. One of my professors once said that in Near East culture, pigs are revolted because their waste very easily seeps into water supplies and they forage through stuff. I do not know if that is the reason God instituted these precepts, though.
Sometimes, I wonder if many of these rules are just arbitrary and the whole set of them were designed as a test of how obedient a people would be. Exodus 11:44 said, "I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy , because I am holy." I wonder if the whole set of laws and regulations was to set a people apart from the rest of the society, to make life more complicated so they would have to rely on God for everything.
This is probably the earliest post to date. I could not sleep last night. I tossed and turned, and I did not feel at peace. So, I woke up and decided to read Scripture. I look forward to it everyday, now. It is my time alone with God where I can learn about him, ask him questions, fall at his feet and say that I do not understand it all, tell him I love him, and ask for his forgiveness. Lord knows, I need his forgiveness every day.
1790 pages to go.
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