Bible Society of South Africa

To The Word – Day 28

Leviticus 9–12, Hebrews 5–6

Bible text(s)

Leviticus 9

Aaron Offers Sacrifices

1The day after the ordination rites were completed, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. 2He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull and a ram without any defects and offer them to the LORD, the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering. 3Then tell the people of Israel to take a male goat for a sin offering, a one-year-old calf, and a one-year-old lamb without any defects for a burnt offering, 4and a bull and a ram for a fellowship offering. They are to sacrifice them to the LORD with the grain offering mixed with oil. They must do this because the LORD will appear to them today.”

5They brought to the front of the Tent everything that Moses had commanded, and the whole community assembled there to worship the LORD. 6Moses said, “The LORD has commanded you to do all this, so that the dazzling light of his presence can appear to you.” 7Then he said to Aaron, “Go to the altar and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering to take away your sins and the sins of the people. Present this offering to take away the sins of the people, just as the LORD commanded.”

8Aaron went to the altar and killed the young bull which was for his own sin offering. 9His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it, put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and poured out the rest of it at the base of the altar. 10Then he burnt on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the best part of the liver, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 11But he burnt the meat and the skin outside the camp.

12He killed the animal which was for his own burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. 13They handed him the head and the other pieces of the animal, and he burnt them on the altar. 14Then he washed the internal organs and the hind legs and burnt them on the altar on top of the rest of the burnt offering.

15After that, he presented the people's offerings. He took the goat that was to be offered for the people's sins, killed it, and offered it, as he had done with his own sin offering. 16He also brought the animal for the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. 17He presented the grain offering and took a handful of flour and burnt it on the altar. (This was in addition to the daily burnt offering.) 18He killed the bull and the ram as a fellowship offering for the people. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. 19Aaron put the fat parts of the bull and the ram 20on top of the breasts of the animals and carried it all to the altar. He burnt the fat on the altar 21and presented the breasts and the right hind legs as the special gift to the LORD for the priests, as Moses had commanded.

22When Aaron had finished all the sacrifices, he raised his hands over the people and blessed them, and then stepped down. 23Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the LORD's presence, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the dazzling light of the LORD's presence appeared to all the people. 24Suddenly the LORD sent a fire, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they all shouted and bowed down with their faces to the ground.

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Leviticus 10

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

1Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, each took his firepan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the LORD. But this fire was not holy, because the LORD had not commanded them to present it. 2Suddenly the LORD sent fire, and it burnt them to death there in the presence of the LORD. 3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD was speaking about when he said, ‘All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.’ ” But Aaron remained silent.

4Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, “Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp.” 5So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.

6Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But all your fellow-Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the LORD sent. 7Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the LORD.” So they did as Moses said.

Rules for Priests

8The LORD said to Aaron, 9“You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses.”

12Moses said to Aaron and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the food offered to the LORD, make unleavened bread with it and eat it beside the altar, because this offering is very holy. 13Eat it in a holy place; it is the part that belongs to you and your sons from the food offered to the LORD. That is what the LORD commanded me. 14But you and your families may eat the breast and the hind leg that are presented as the special gift and the special contribution to the LORD for the priests. You may eat them in any ritually clean place. These offerings have been given to you and your children as the part that belongs to you from the fellowship offerings of the people of Israel. 15They shall bring the hind leg and the breast at the time the fat is presented as a food offering to the LORD. These parts belong to you and your children for ever, just as the LORD commanded.”

16Moses asked about the goat for the sin offering and learnt that it had already been burnt. This made him angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, and he demanded, 17“Why didn't you eat the sin offering in a sacred place? It is very holy, and the LORD has given it to you in order to take away the sin of the community. 18Since its blood was not brought into the sacred tent, you should have eaten the sacrifice there, as I commanded.”

19Aaron answered, “If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved? The people presented their sin offering to the LORD today, and they brought their burnt offering, but still these terrible things have happened to me.” 20When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

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Leviticus 11

Animals that may be Eaten

(Deut 14.3–21)

1The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations 2for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal 3that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, 4-6but you must not eat camels, rock-badgers, or rabbits. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. 7Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. 8Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean.

9You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, 10but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. 11Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. 12You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.

13-19You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; or bats.

20All winged insects are unclean, 21except those that hop. 22You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. 23But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean.

24-28Whoever touches the dead bodies of the following animals will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. Whoever carries their dead bodies must wash his clothes, but he will still be unclean until evening.

29-30Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. 31Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 32And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. 33And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. 35Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, 36but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. 37If one of them falls on seed that is going to be sown, the seed remains clean. 38But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean.

39If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. 40And if anyone eats any part of the animal, he must wash his clothes, but he will still be unclean until evening; anyone who carries the dead body must wash his clothes, but he will still be unclean until evening.

41You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, 42whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. 43Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. 44I am the LORD your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. 45I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.

46This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. 47You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

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Leviticus 12

The Purification of Women after Childbirth

1The LORD gave Moses the following regulations 2for the people of Israel. For seven days after a woman gives birth to a son, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. 3On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised. 4Then it will be 33 more days before she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; she must not touch anything that is holy or enter the sacred Tent until the time of her purification is completed.

5For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. Then it will be 66 more days before she is ritually clean from her loss of blood.

6When the time of her purification is completed, whether for a son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. 7The priest shall present her offering to the Lord and perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean. This, then, is what a woman must do after giving birth.

8If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean.

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Hebrews 5

1Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins. 2Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes. 3And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins. 4No one chooses for himself the honour of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest — just as Aaron was.

5In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honour of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him:

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.”

6He also said in another place,

“You will be a priest for ever,

in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

7In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him. 8But even though he was God's Son, he learnt through his sufferings to be obedient. 9When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him, 10and God declared him to be high priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

Warning against Abandoning the Faith

11There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand. 12There has been enough time for you to be teachers — yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk. 13Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong. 14Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

Hebrews 6

1Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God; 2of the teaching about baptisms and the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgement. 3Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.

4For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light; they tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit; 5they knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. 6And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

7God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated. 8But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

9But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation. 10God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to your fellow-Christians. 11Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

God's Sure Promise

13When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. 14He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.” 15Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. 16When people make vows, they use the name of someone greater than themselves, and the vow settles all arguments. 17To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. 18There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. 19We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. 20On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us, and has become a high priest for ever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

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