Lev.16:1–20:27; Ezek. 22:1–19; Amos 9:7–15; Jn. 7:1–10:21
“The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD.” (Lev.16:1)
This parasha opens with sombre words In the midst of the tumultuous loss of Aaron’s two eldest sons who offered “strange fire” to God. Aaron was forbidden to mourn his loss and simply continue with his service as high priest. This is one of those puzzling passages that we need to dig deep to make proper sense of.
The Jewish sages divided the commands in the Torah into two categories: Mishpatim (judgments) and Chukim (decrees). Mishpatim were clear and rational statements such as with the 10 Commandments but, Chukim were different. Some are easy to understand but others not so because they do not necessarily appeal to human reason. They are a “chok” or “mystery.” Sometimes, things can only be understood in hindsight and at other times never at all.
“Rabbi Moshe took a trip to a strange land. He took a donkey, a rooster, and a lamp. Since he was a Jew, he was refused hospitality in the village inns, so he decided to sleep in the woods.
He lit his lamp to study the holy books before going to sleep, but a fierce wind came up, knocking over the lamp and breaking it. The rabbi decided to turn in, saying, “All that God does, he does well.” During the night some wild animals came along and drove away the rooster and thieves stole the donkey. Moshe wake up, saw the loss, but still proclaimed easily, “All that God does, he does well.”
The rabbi then went back to the village where he was refused lodging, only to learn that enemy soldiers had invaded it during the night and killed all the inhabitants. He also learned that these soldiers had traveled through the same part of the woods where he lay asleep. Had his lamp not been broken he would have been discovered. Had not the rooster been chased, it would have crowed, giving him away. Had not the donkey been stolen, it would have brayed. So once more Rabbi Moshe declared, “All that God does, he does well!”
Whatever our circumstances however defined, be they apparent or a Divine mystery, Scripture encourages us to commit our comings in and goings out to the One who knows all things, and leave everything in-between at the foot of the Cross.
The apostle Paul experienced this very thing for our own encouragement, “…we are hard pressed in every way, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not in despair; persecuted, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Yeshua, so that the life of Yeshua may also be revealed in our mortal body.” (2Cor.4:8-10)
These are lofty words but what do their implications? “Paul was explaining the cost of discipleship which is a process by which God “washes” our souls from those thoughts and passions which lead to sin. It is a giving of one’s self up to the godly sorrow that works repentance. “When the gates of prayer in Heaven are shut, that of tears is open,“ says the Talmud. (The Pupit Commentary – E. Johnson)
Returning to the death of Aaron’s two eldest sons – Offering ‘strange fire’ meant presenting God with a sacrifice which was profane, foreign or unholy, something that was on their own terms instead of His, conducted carelessly without regard to His absolute holiness. It reflected something of the godless character of Aaron’s two eldest sons and provides us with a clearer picture of their sinful actions.
Perhaps they had tried to imitate how the pagan offerings were presented before the deities or quite possibly they had made the offering whilst drunk with alcohol Lev.10:8-9).
God’s grace and mercy is manifold but we must also remember that although He is a God of second chances and new beginnings, He also holds us accountable for our actions. And yet, God’s absolute justice can sometimes be puzzling akin to a “chok.” For example, when earlier Aaron had built a golden calf for the Israelites to worship in Ex.32, severe judgment fell upon the people and yet Aaron appeared to go unpunished as though exempt from any unaccountability as God’s high priest?
But was this actually the case? Some people believe that Aaron endured the loss of Nadab and Abiru as a direct judgment from God referring back to the incident of the golden calf. This was as it were a belated punishment compounded by the fact that he was not even allowed to grieve privately.
We will never know why Nadal and Abiru acted in the manner they did particularly since they had experienced the privilege of tasting God’s glory on several occasions that was a privilege beyond imagination. How could they have consequently treated the holiness of God with such scorn?
Only God the righteous judge knows the full details but something clearly apparent is that Nadab and Abiru paid the ultimate price for their folly, and yet perhaps that price was even greater for Aaron their father? Sin has consequences that goes beyond the individual that can affect those we are surrounded by and extend even to whole communities, nations and beyond.
It is easy to confine ones interpretation of God’s judgement over Aaron’s sons as being overly severe, yet seen through a different lens is contained another perspective that showcases the love and infinite tenderness and mercy of God. King David well understood this probably better than most of us because of the manner he dealt with his many sins and misdemeanours, not in spite of them. So did the apostle Peter who failed grievously by betraying the One he loved. Man’s extremity is indeed God’s opportunity and demonstrates that our innate human fallibility and frailty is never unredeemable other than by choice, one that leads to life or death – a new beginning through genuine repentance or as In the case with Nadal and Abiru poor choices accompanied by an unrepentant lifestyle which led to their demise.
One might ask where God’s mercy was in all of this? Doesn’t Scripture inform us that mercy triumphs over judgement? (James 2:13) It is a “chok” but maybe God took them out before things got any worse and the consequence of their godless lifestyle deteriorated still further and their example as leaders would set a negative precedent among the entire priesthood?
Scripture warns us never to neglect the holiness of God which permeates every one of His attributes: love, mercy and kindness; faithfulness and tenderness; grace and forgiveness… God is entirely holy which we neglect at our peril. This is no more important for us in context with the times we are living in where God’s holiness is blatantly and openly flaunted throughout cross-sections of the Church and beyond.
Leading a holy lifestyle is an outflow of godly obedience but even this can be counterfeited through false piety as illustrated by the following story.
“A visitor’s phone rang during a church service by accident in the middle of prayers.The pastor scolded him and some of the worshippers also admonished him afterwards for interrupting their moment with God. His wife kept on lecturing him for embarrassing her and for his carelessness their entire journey home. He felt shamed, humiliated and never stepped foot in the church again.
That evening he went to a bar, sadly reflecting upon his experience still nervous and trembling. He spilled his drink on the table and the bottle fell by accident splashing on some people. Those it touched rushed towards him but instead of criticising or condemning him they enquired if he was okay and whether he had been cut from the broken bottle. The waiter apologised and gave him a napkin to clean himself. The janitor mopped the floor. The female manager offered him a complimentary drink. She also gave him a huge hug and a peck while saying, “Don’t worry man. Who doesn’t make mistakes?” He has not stopped going to that bar since then.”
There are many things we could reflect upon from the story but when we view it in context with the death of Aaron’s two sons something is graphically illustrated. “Strange Fire” is false worship. How easy a thing for believers to fall into the same trap. The church has been doing it successfully now for almost 2000 years, spilling the blood of others with “strange fire” physically and spiritually whilst piously singing ‘onward Christian soldiers.’
A second feature in this week’s parasha covers the sufficiency and insufficiency of the blood sacrifice which undergirds various themes we have covered so far. In Lev.17:11 we read that, “… the life of the flesh is in the blood, and Adonai has given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
For most Jewish people, the idea of blood atonement for sin is a barbaric concept. Moreover, in this day of doing whatever is right in one’s eyes, even the basic concept of sin is generally scorned and considered outdated or irrelevant.
Yet God purposefully intended that blood atonement would be a grim reminder to us of the destructiveness of sin just as real today as it was in the time of Moses – messy lives that demands a radical solution which has been ultimately secured through Yeshua.
Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Hebrew calendar for Jewish people presents the inescapable reality that all humanity is in desperate need of redemption. No matter how hard we try, we will always fall short of God’s perfect standards “…For there is not a righteous man upon earth who does good and sins not.” (Eccles.7:20)
There is an ancient Jewish prayer that no longer exists within traditional Yom Kippur services, because it points to Yeshua the ‘Suffering Servant’ portrayed in Isa.53:
“Our righteous anointed is departed from us: horror hath seized us, and we have none to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of our iniquities and our transgression, and is wounded because of our transgression. He bears our sins on his shoulder, that he may find pardon for our iniquities. We shall be healed by his wounds, when the Eternal will create Him (the Mashiach) as a new creature.”
So we as believers are the visible expression of Yeshua rather than add-on. God calls each one of us to walk in the footsteps of the Master as we offer up our lives as living sacrifices Rom.12:1-3 because otherwise people will remain in the bars.
Scripture makes it very clear that the path of holiness accompanies a high price tab that demands nothing less than total commitment. The Talmud graphically highlights this:
“…there is not a single bird more persecuted than the dove yet God has chosen her to be offered upon the altar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, and the goat by the tiger.’ God said: ‘Bring me a sacrifice, not from them that persecute, but from them that are persecuted.”
Yeshua identified the “persecuted” as being those among His remnant – those who embrace the “Fellowship of His Sufferings” (Phil.2) who are scorned and despised by the world yet carry a status of inestimable worth in the sight of God: “How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of vicious lies about you because you follow me! Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great — they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.” Matt.5:11-12,
There is only one act of true worship – walking in the footsteps of Yeshua which continues for a lifetime.
Sometimes I ponder over the paradox how God has called us to stand for Him as His representative in this world despite our many imperfections! And perhaps almost strangely, the closer we grow to Him the greater we become acutely aware of our own inane unworthiness compared to His absolute holiness. So too, the more we love Him the more we also become aware how small our love is in comparison to His! Maybe this is intended to be our motivation rather than a deterrent?
Nonetheless, God is not phased by any of these things but simply calls us to love Him with every breath we breathe, in the Spirit at all times and in all places, in every circumstance no matter what we may be facing. He has every confidence in us even when we lack in confidence!
In its broadest sense, our lives are an expression of prayer in all its varieties that take us beyond our comfort zones as we become transformed into living sacrifices, changed from ‘glory to glory’ “…as we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2Cor.3:18)
Did you know that the altar of incense was the piece of Tabernacle furniture placed closest to the Holy of Holies? There the incense of smoke would be burning upon the coals and raise up even as our prayers are raised up to the Throne Room of God that are a sweet-smelling fragrance to Him.
The incense was offered daily continuously unto God by the priests as a reminder that He above all things is the One we treasure!
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