#DailyDevotionThank God We Have Jesus!
Easter Week 4 Tuesday
Read Lev 10:1–20
Lev 10:1-2 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. (2) And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD…12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the LORD’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. (13) You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the LORD’s food offerings, for so I am commanded. (14) But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. (15) The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the LORD has commanded.”
One overall theme runs through this chapter…do things the way the Lord said to do them. In the first instance two sons of Aaron offer up incense in manner unprescribed by the Lord. For this infraction, the Lord’s fire consumes them. Really, obeying the Lord and doing what he commands and how he commands it is very important in the Old Testament. This is particularly true for the priests for they represent the Lord before the people.
Secondly we have when, where, who and what are the sacrifices to be consumed. The Levites were not to have land in the land the Lord was giving the Israelites. The Lord was their inheritance. The offerings given to the Lord which were not whole burnt offerings, the priest were to be given a share. Not only that but they were to eat it in a clean place, a place sanctified by the Lord in the manner he prescribed for it to be sanctified. To do otherwise would be to anger the Lord. Now with our New Testament eyes, this may seem pretty extreme of the Lord. But God gave the commandments so that sin would be seen as utterly sinful. Indeed the Law increased sin because there were more ways to sin against the Lord. Yet even in the Writings and the Prophets the Lord lets us know, “I demand mercy and not sacrifice.” The Lord is utterly merciful and Jesus crucified proves that.
Peter reminds us in his speech before the first Church council that they and their ancestors were never able to keep God’s Law. The Lord in his great mercy sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from the curse of the Law. Jesus suffered what judgments we see carried out upon those who rebel against the Lord and even trespass against his commandments unknowingly. It is in Jesus and his death we see the mercy of God.
Heavenly Father, we do not deserve your mercies or kindness for we have broken and trespasses but you had mercy on us in Jesus Christ. Grant us grace and faith to receive your mercy. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.