Conduct Prescribed for Priests

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus. I'm glad to be with you this morning. We have another sobering passage for us. Yesterday, Daniel and I looked at Nadab and Abihu. It's not a fun story. It's a heavy story.
Those who are close to God are those who are demanded most to understand His holiness. Today that story continues in how Aaron is to interact with God and his sons as well. So why don't we have some coffee? We'll pray and we'll see what the Lord has for us today.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, we Thank you for hard passages in your word. They're not easy to read. But Father, we pray that you would please teach us who you are and who we're supposed to be. We pray that you would be holy in our eyes and that you would reveal yourself to us. Please teach us, Lord. We need your spirit. In Jesus's name. Amen.
Okay, so we are at Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10. We'll begin at verse 8 and we'll get to the end of the chapter. Again, I'm going to kind of break it down, but as we go, asking ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this and C, what are we called to do in response to this? So here we go. Then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying, but this is the only time God speaks directly to Aaron. Nadab and Abihu are dead. And God doesn't speak through Moses to Aaron, but he speaks directly to Aaron.
He's still the high priest. Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die." You can imagine this is still the same day. You can imagine the hurt that this stung to Aaron. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has given to them by the hand of Moses, so God himself. Right after the death of Nadab and Abihu, he tells Aaron and his sons, when you're on duty, no drinking.
Why? Because they've got to make decisions and they need a clear mind. They need to be able to say, this is holy, this is not holy. This is clean, this is not clean. They need to be able to say to someone, this is right and this is not right. They need to be able to teach the law and so they are to have a sober mind. But why would this come right after the death of Aaron's sons?
Well, there's a couple different options. One of the options that people suggest is that it was normal at the time if somebody was grieving to give them alcohol, you know, to kind of soothe their hearts. I've seen many people do this, that they drown out their sorrows. And maybe that's a possibility.
A whole bunch of ancient rabbis said that this was specifically tied, that Nadab and Abihu probably made this horrible decision between what was commanded, what was not commanded, what was clean, what was unclean, by getting drunk before they did this. There's no proof for that, but it's possible.
But no matter what the Lord here is telling him, you need to be sober. You need to be sober in mind. I think this is the same reason why for elders, it's specifically said that they have to be temperate. We look at first Timothy chapter three, and that's one of the qualifications for one of God's overseers. A bishop, an overseer, an elder needs to be one who isn't addicted to much wine.
And Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left, four down to two. Take the grain offering that remains on the offering made by fire to the Lord and eat it. without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy. You shall eat it in a holy place because it is your due and your son's due of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord.
For so I have been commanded." Moses is concerned for his brother. You're still the high priest. There's still a sacrifice to finish. You got to do this, man. the breasts of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place you your sons and your daughters with you for they are your do and your sons do which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of israel The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring to with the offering of fat made by fire to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons with you a statute by statute forever as the Lord has commanded. Moses is worried about his brother. He's worried about the commandments of God.
And he says, you still got to make this sacrifice and you still got to eat it. This purification still needs to happen. This expiation of sin still needs to go on. And so that's part of the purging process. You got to eat this, man. Then Moses made careful inquiry. That then means after a while.
Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was, burned up. And he was angry with Eliezer and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, who were left, saying, Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? See, its blood was not brought inside the holy place. Indeed, you should have eaten it in a holy place as I commanded you."
Right, they did that. They slaughtered the animal. They put it on the altar. They burned it up, but they left it there. Couldn't bring themselves to eat it. And Moses says, that's not the way this is supposed to go. What are you doing? I could hear the echoes of, you don't know what happened to your brothers when they didn't follow the Lord's command? What are you guys doing?
And Aaron steps in at the end of this and intervenes for his sons Eliezer and Nethemar. He says in verse 19, and Aaron said to Moses, look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things have befallen me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, Would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? When Moses heard that, he was content.
Aaron shows us something. Aaron shows us that he understands he has to regard God as holy. And a God who has commanded something is also a God who has commanded that it's got to actually be real heartfelt worship. It's got to be experiential worship. And he's not just going to take a sham for it. They offered their burnt offerings, they offered the sin offerings, but their father wouldn't eat. And he knows that the Lord wouldn't accept it. And this seems to pacify Moses because it seems in Aaron's grief, he himself has now learned to fear the Lord. He's learned to sanctify God, to treat him as holy. and to know that even his life is but a very breath.
Do we understand God this way? Do we treat God as holy like that? I wish the ministers of God's church, I wish that I would more frequently, that those who lead the church, the elders of the church would be those who would know that they are going to be judged more severely. That with sobriety, we have to proclaim the whole counsel of God, in season and out of season, and we must do it. It's fear and trembling. Our God is a consuming fire.
Go to Him. Pray to Him. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name. It's how Jesus treated his father. It's how we should remember him also. The one who does take away our sins, forgives our iniquities, gives us our daily bread, protects us from evil, that he will be regarded as holy amongst his people.
Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would please teach us to know you are holy. Father, we pray for a revival. I pray for it in my own heart. I pray for it in the hearts of the leaders of the churches in your kingdom, not just here in Iowa, but in the United States and internationally, that frauds and drunkards, liars, manipulators, twisters of your word would know that you will not be mocked. Father, please, Please, Lord, teach us to know that you are holy and to walk in the sobriety that comes by life redeemed in your spirit. In Jesus's name. Amen. May you walk in the sobriety of God's holiness, knowing that he loves those who marvel at his glory. I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.