Deeper Commentary
Lev 6:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
We will read now about theft and fraud (:2-7), and then the text goes
straight on to speak of burnt offerings (:8,9). Perhaps the connection in
thought is that these words have specifically in view the temptation to
steal from others and then offer the stolen goods as an offering to
Yahweh- which is exactly the problem addressed in Is. 61:8. So it clearly
was a problem in Israel. See on :7. The principle is that we are not to
offer to Yahweh that which cost us nothing (1 Sam. 24:24) and that is the
abiding take away lesson.
Lev 6:2 ’If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals
falsely with his neighbour in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of
robbery, or has oppressed his neighbour-
The oppression in view is things like not paying him his hire every
day (Dt. 24:14,15; Lev. 19:13). "Oppress" is the same word translated
"deceive"; to not oppress others through deceiving them would elicit the
heaviest judgment from God, when the person realized the deception and
cried to God because of it (Dt. 24:15). Deceiving / oppressing a neighbour
was a sin against Yahweh (Lev. 6:2 s.w.), because He has a special
interest in the poor. And His law reflects that. We should likewise have
such a special interest, rather than ever seeking to analyze why people
are poor. Fraud and oppression were Israel's experience in Egypt.
Constantly, the law of Moses urges them to remember their spiritual
biography, and this awareness is intended to elicit grace to others, never
treating them as Israel were treated in Egypt. Our lives before baptism
were lived as it were in Egypt (1 Cor. 10:1,2), and so the principle
applies to us too.
Lev 6:3 or has found that which was lost, and dealt falsely therein, and
swearing to a lie; in any of all these things that a man does, sinning
therein-
"Found that which was lost" is the phrase quoted by the Lord Jesus in
His parables of the lost sheep and coin (Lk. 15:6). He had engaged with
these same words which we are reading. Finding the lost was to be a source
of open joy, rather than being used secretly for personal advantage and
benefit. And so it is with all pastoral work in finding the lost.
Lev 6:4 then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall
restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by
oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing
which he found-
Robbery was effectively what
the exaggeration, mind games, manipulation, white lies and deceitful
dealing of :2 was reckoned as. These things creep in so easily into any
business dealings between people; and God sees them as robbery.
Lev 6:5 or any thing about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it
even in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. To him to whom it
belongs he shall give it, in the day of his being found guilty-
Broken relationships were to be restored as quickly
as possible "in the day", so the restoration was to be made immediately.
In all human failure, reconciliation involves some level of restoration,
be it verbal or material.
Lev 6:6 He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without
blemish from the flock-
No animal actually is without blemish. God recognizes that we will not
attain perfection in this life, but we are to do our best towards it; and
His love imputes righteousness to us, counting us as unblemished because
of our status in Christ. For only Christ was the sacrifice totally without
moral blemish (1 Pet. 1:19). This looked ahead to the unblemished character of the Lord Jesus. The
offering of sacrifices "without blemish" uses a word which is used about
Abraham and Noah being "without blemish" (AV "perfect") before God (Gen.
6:9; 17:1). Although the word is used about the sacrifices, it is really
more appropriate to persons- "you shall be perfect with Yahweh your God"
(Dt. 18:13), "serve Him in sincerity (s.w. "without blemish")" (Josh.
24:14). The idea, therefore, was that the offerer was invited to see the
animal as representative of himself. Our lives too are to be as "living
sacrifices" (Rom. 12:1). And yet in practical terms, no animal is without
blemish. They were to give the best they could, and God would count it as
without blemish; as He does with us.
David frequently uses the term in the Psalms about himself and the
"upright", even though he was far from unblemished in moral terms.
According to your estimation, for a trespass
offering, to the priest-
This is a reminder that we are reading commandments addressed to the
Levites. Many stolen things were in forms other than money, so they had to
estimate what was a fifth amount of the value of the stolen sheep, or
whatever.
Lev 6:7 The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will
be forgiven concerning whatever he has done to become guilty’-
"To become guilty" could equally be translated "in the presentation
of a sin offering". And this would connect with the suggestion on :1, that
we may be here dealing specifically with a case of a person stealing from
others in order to make the sin offering required for some earlier sin.
Lev 6:8 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
See on :1 for the connection between the following laws of the burnt
offering, and the preceding commandments about fraud.
Lev 6:9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the
burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all
night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning
on it-
The idea may be that there was not to be a moment, night or day, when
the principle of sacrifice was not being demonstrated. And this should
feature in our lives. But the lamb specifically looked ahead to the Lord
Jesus. There is a sense in which His sacrifice for us is eternally
ongoing.
Lev 6:10 The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on
his linen breeches upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where
the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put
them beside the altar-
This was the garment of Ex. 28:4,39,42 (see notes there).
The entire body of believers are described as being figuratively clothed
in linen at the Lord's return, in that it represents the imputed
righteousness of the saints / believers (Rev. 19:8). The allusion to the
'clothing upon' of the nakedness of flesh at the Lord's return is clear;
the same figure is found in 2 Cor. 5:4. But the implication is that we
shall then be as ordained priests- we shall go forth into eternity to do
the work of priesthood, helping others to come to Yahweh. Our experiences
now, especially our frustrations in being unable to do or achieve this
work, are all in order to prepare us for such an eternity.
Lev 6:11 He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and
carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place-
We think of the slain, sacrificed body of the Lord Jesus being
removed to a clean place, buried outside the city of Jerusalem, wrapped in
a clean linen cloth (cp. the garments of :10) and laid in a new tomb,
wherein no man had been laid (Mt. 27:59), and therefore ritually clean.
Lev 6:12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not
go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall
lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of
the peace offerings-
The fire of the altar was ideally intended to be that kindled at the
time of Lev. 9:24 when the tabernacle was consecrated. It was to be kept
perpetually burning by the sacrifices being continually placed upon it, a
lamb every morning and every evening.
Lev 6:13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not
go out’-
There was fair emphasis on this, that always a
lamb should be smouldering as a burnt offering to God. Our devotion to
God, as a community of believers and as individuals, must be 24/7; it’s
not a matter of occasional flashes of devotion, weekly attendance at
meetings etc.
Lev 6:14 ‘This is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall
offer it before Yahweh, before the altar-
The humblest offering, just some flour, was before Yahweh. He has a
special interest in the offering of little things from little people; see
on :17.
Lev 6:15 He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the
grain offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the
grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma, as
its memorial, to Yahweh-
Frankincense was a type of incense which would have given a pleasing
smell to the burning flour. This represented how pleased God was with the
offering even of a handful of flour. Small sacrifices please Him
immensely. And they are what comprise daily life.
Lev 6:16 That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall
be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of
the Tent of Meeting-
The priests had no inheritance amongst Israel, they
survived by eating parts of the offerings. Their eating of them
represented God’s ‘eating’ of the sacrifices, the altar being described as
His table (Mal. 1:7,12), His acceptance of the offerer and fellowship with
them- for eating what had been brought to you was a sign of acceptance and
religious fellowship with the donor.
Lev 6:17 It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their
portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as the sin
offering, and as the trespass offering-
The language of "most holy" is juxtaposed against the fact that this
was referring to a simple grain offering, a 'little something' offered by
literally anyone within Israel (see on Lev. 2:1). But such tiny offerings were
"most holy" to God; we think of the Lord's attitude to the widow offering
her two small coins.
Lev 6:18 Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their
portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh
made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy’-
This doesn't mean that holiness was transferred by touching them, for
holiness cannot be spread like that (Hag. 2:11-13). Rather the idea is
that the males who touched them must be ritually clean (Lev. 22:6,7).
Perhaps we as the new priesthood are to learn from this that we are to
partake of the memorial bread and wine in a "clean" way, i.e. having
examined ourselves and recognizing our uncleanness. For by a great
paradox, that is what it means to be clean before God.
Lev 6:19 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
The following commands were specifically for the day when Aaron was
anointed; as discussed on Lev. 1:1,2, it seems all of Leviticus is aimed
specifically in this context.
Lev 6:20 ’This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall
offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah
of fine flour for a grain offering perpetually, half of it in the morning,
and half of it in the evening-
An ephah is about 22 liters.
Lev 6:21 It shall be made with oil in a griddle. When it is soaked, you
shall bring it in. You shall offer the grain offering in baked pieces-
The process of splitting the offering into its parts speaks of our
self-examination, defining each part of our lives and offering them to God
consciously.
For a pleasant aroma to Yahweh-
“A pleasant aroma” is a very common phrase. This concept is important
to God. It first occurs in Gen. 8:21 where it means that God accepted
Noah's sacrifice and vowed that the pole of saving mercy in His character
was going to triumph over that of necessary judgment. Under the new
covenant, it is persons and not sacrifices or incense which are accepted
as a "pleasant aroma" (Ez. 20:41). The word for "pleasant" means strong
delight; this is how God's heart can be touched by genuine sacrifice.
Those pleasing offerings represented us, the living sacrifices (Rom.
12:1). And so it is applied to us in 2 Cor. 2:15- if we are in Christ, we
are counted as a pleasant aroma to God. The offering of ourselves to Him
is nothing of itself, but because we are in Christ and counted as Him, we
are a delight to God. Hence the colossal importance of being “in Christ”.
Lev 6:22 The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons
shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burnt to Yahweh-
‘Christ’ means ‘the anointed one’, and so Jewish
minds would have associated ‘Jesus Christ’ with the priest who saves
[‘Jesus’ means ‘Yahweh’s salvation’].
Lev 6:23 Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall
not be eaten’-
Again we see that this refers specifically to the ritual of the
dedication of the priests. For
Lev. 7:9
is clear that generally, "Every grain offering that is baked in the
oven, and all that is dressed in the pan, and on the griddle, shall be the
priest’s who offers it". The priests were not to eat parts of their own
dedicatory offering, as they usually did with the offerings of others. We as the new
priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5) shouldn’t take any personal benefit from what we
give to God, otherwise the concept of personal sacrifice to God is
somewhat lacking in meaning. We are not to offer that which costs us
nothing (1 Sam. 24:24). The priests were so used to dealing with the
needs of others for atonement and acceptability with God- but they were
not to forget that they too needed this, hence they too had to offer
sacrifice. Our dealings with the unsaved world shouldn’t lead us to forget
our own personal need for reconciliation with God.
Lev 6:24 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
God spoke to Moses, who then spoke to the Aaronites (:25). He is
presented as mediator between God and man, looking ahead to the greater
prophet like him, Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
Lev 6:25 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the
sin offering-
I suggest this refers to specific sin offering when Aaron was
consecrated. See on :20,26.
In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be
killed before Yahweh. It is most holy-
That is, on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11). Golgotha was on the north side of Jerusalem, and all these sacrifices
look ahead to the Lord's death there. The laver was on the west side of the
altar, the place of ashes on the east (Lev. 1:16), and the approach to the
altar from the south would have been up a slope to avoid approaching the
altar by steps and uncovering nakedness. The north side would have been
the only appropriate place for this. So there is an impressive
corroboration of the records here, with this command to kill the animals
on the north side of the altar.
Lev 6:26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten
in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting-
It was not to be taken out of the court and eaten. And yet the
priestly share of the offerings could usually be eaten by their families.
So we are confirmed in understanding that this refers to a specific sin
offering when Aaron was consecrated. See on :20,25.
Lev 6:27 Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy-
This doesn't mean that holiness was transferred by touching them, for
holiness cannot be spread like that (Hag. 2:11-13). Rather the idea is
that the males who touched them must be ritually clean (Lev. 22:6,7).
When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall
wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place-
This makes us think of the blood sprinkled garments of the Lord Jesus
which are prophesied in Gen. 49:11; Is. 63:3). This therefore was a
terrible image for those steeped in Mosaic concepts, just as His
invitation to drink His blood. To accept His sacrifice meant a radical
rethinking of Mosaic images.
Lev 6:28 But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and
if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in
water-
Unglazed, porous pottery could have absorbed some of the blood, so it
had to be destroyed. The water was presumably from the laver (Ex. 30:28).
The Hebrew for "scoured" implies being made bright in the fire. The
breaking of earthen vessels is an image used for the breaking of humanity.
We hold God's truth, the blood of Christ, in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7),
which must be broken at the last day when our mortality is swallowed up.
We are to pass through fire and water so that we will be eternally
preserved.
Lev 6:29 Every male among the priests shall eat of it: it is most holy-
When the Lord Jesus presented Himself as the sin offering and
invited His people to eat the symbol of it in the breaking of bread
meeting, He was inviting us to see ourselves as a new priesthood (1 Pet.
2:5,9), no longer assuming some group of specialists would look after the
spiritual concerns of others, but everyone, male and female, taking
responsibility. This was a radical, difficult idea to accept for first
century Jewish Christians, and it is hard for us today too, accustomed as
we are to assigning responsibility to others rather than taking it
ourselves.
Lev 6:30 No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the
Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten: it
shall be burned with fire’-
What was in view were the sin offerings for the high priest and the
whole congregation (Lev. 4:3,12-21), and the sin offering of the Day of
Atonement (Lev. 16:27).
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