Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 178
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
10:7-20
you do, you will die, and the Lord’s anger will strike the whole community of Israel. However, the rest of the Israelites, your relatives, may
mourn because of the Lord’s fiery destruction of Nadab and Abihu. But
you must not leave the entrance of the Tabernacle or you will die, for you
have been anointed with the Lord’s anointing oil.” So they did as Moses
commanded.
Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your descendants must never
drink wine or any other alcoholic drink before going into the Tabernacle.
If you do, you will die. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be
observed from generation to generation. You must distinguish between
what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean
and what is clean. And you must teach the Israelites all the decrees that the
Lord has given them through Moses.”
Then Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar,
“Take what is left of the grain offering after a portion has been presented as
a special gift to the Lord, and eat it beside the altar. Make sure it contains
no yeast, for it is most holy. You must eat it in a sacred place, for it has been
given to you and your descendants as your portion of the special gifts presented to the Lord. These are the commands I have been given. But the
breast and thigh that were lifted up as a special offering may be eaten in any
place that is ceremonially clean. These parts have been given to you and
your descendants as your portion of the peace offerings presented by the
people of Israel. You must lift up the thigh and breast as a special o ffering
to the Lord, along with the fat of the special gifts. These parts will belong
to you and your descendants as your permanent right, just as the Lord
has commanded.”
Moses then asked them what had happened to the goat of the sin offering. When he discovered it had been burned up, he became very angry
with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons. “Why didn’t you eat
the sin offering in the sacred area?” he demanded. “It is a holy offering!
The Lord has given it to you to remove the guilt of the community and
to purify the people, making them right with the Lord. Since the animal’s
blood was not brought into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the
meat in the sacred area as I ordered you.”
Then Aaron answered Moses, “Today my sons presented both their sin
offering and their burnt offering to the Lord. And yet this tragedy has
happened to me. If I had eaten the people’s sin offering on such a tragic
day as this, would the Lord have been pleased?” And when Moses heard
this, he was satisfied.
