May the mumbling commence!
There’s a barbeque at the Lord’s Tabernacle! Did you think that barbeque was a recent and American thing? Well, in Leviticus 1-4, we will find a barbeque that would put any tailgating to shame. There was the burnt offering, the grain offering (note there was no yeast allowed and that this offering was always seasoned with salt and oil), the fellowship offering, and the sin offering. Yes, it is a barbeque between the Lord and His people.
The burnt offering was all for the Lord. We shouldn’t get that confused with the hotdogs or hamburgers that slip through the grill. This offering is of our best, and it is burned to the Lord on purpose. The burnt offering was something of a thankful tithe to the Lord. The grain offering was for the Lord and for the priests. A small portion of the grain and the oil were burned unto the Lord (as well as all the incense), while the rest was for the priests – the most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire. Some of this offering may have become the twelve loaves of the bread of the Presence that sit on the table before the Lord (twelve representing the twelve tribes of Israel).
The fellowship offering was shared by all. The Lord received the blood and the fat, which Israel was commanded never to eat. (And now we know the reason for not eating the fat – though it tastes good it is bad for us.) The rest was shared by the priests and the people present when the fellowship offering was given. Now, that’s our idea of a barbeque. The sin offering was for those who sin unintentionally. A different offering was required depending of the guilty party. If a priest were to sin, the offering was to be a young bull. In this case, the priest would put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense. If the whole Israelite community would sin, the offering is also a young bull. However, the blood is put on the horns of the altar of burnt offering instead. If a leader were to sin, a young goat was to be offered. If a member of the community, a young female goat or lamb was to be offered. Like the fellowship offering, the fat was burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Unlike the fellowship offering, the rest of the animal was burned outside of the camp. Like sin, it was to be removed from the community. Sin is an offensive aroma to the Lord.
As a parent of a two-year-old, I think about soiled diapers. I clean up Micah and give him a fresh diaper, but I do not throw him out with the stinky diaper. If the soiled diaper was allowed to remain, it would become an even greater offense to our noses. So, it is removed immediately. But, again, the baby is kept. Even though any parent would know that the baby will produce another diaper like the one carried outside, we keep our beloved children. With God, it is the same way with us. Yes, that’s what love is all about.
I think of an episode that happened when Micah and I were out in Ohio for part of the Christmas season. We were receiving the hospitality of my sister, Sharon’s family. Sharon and her husband, Jeff, were gone to work, while Micah and I were still in their home. It was our first morning there, and Sharon had given us an extra key to the house. It was lying on the dining room table. Well, that morning, Micah soiled a diaper. I didn’t know where my sister’s outside trash was, so I carried the soiled diaper out into her attached garage. I didn’t want to let the warm air out of her home, so I closed the door behind me. When I returned to the door to go back inside with Micah, I found that the door was locked. There I was locked outside the house with my two-year-old son inside and the key to get back inside on the dining room table.
Micah couldn’t open the door for me, and Sharon (who I called with my cell phone) and Jeff were too far away to come rescue me. Sharon called some friends who were nearby. One of their friends from the volunteer fire department had to break into the house with a hammer, and the process ruined the door handle. Jeff bought and installed a new door handle before Micah and I returned that evening from my parent’s house. And Jeff gained a story that I will never be able to live down.
God’s love for us means that He will rescue us when we sin and get ourselves into a fix – even at a great sacrifice to Himself. The sacrificial hospitality of my sister and her husband reminds me of God’s love for each one of us. God does not intend for anyone to be locked outside of eternal life anymore that Jeff and Sharon wanted me locked out of their home. I give thanks to God for continuing to love me, despite the stink that I continue to produce.
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out
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