Hymn 141: “In deep eternal counsel...”
Leviticus 9:1-41And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; 2And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. 3And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; 4Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the Lord will appear unto you. (Leviticus 9:1‑4) “And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year; without blemish, for a burnt offering; Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a meat offering mingled with oil: for today the Lord will appear unto you.”
(Vs. 9) “And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him.” (Vs. 12) “And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood.” (Vs. 18) “And Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about.”
(Vs. 21-ch.10:20) “And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord; as Moses commanded. And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out and blessed the people: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near; and carried them, in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy; and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy: And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons’ due, of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire: for so I am commanded. And the wave breast and the heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons’ due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thine and thy sons’ with thee, by a statute forever; as the Lord hath commanded. And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard that, he was content.”
What I have on my heart is to speak of God’s purposes and our responsibility. I think you can see in the portion that we have read how those two things are brought before us. I want to say at the very commencement that every believer in this room, even if you were just saved yesterday, in the purposes of God, you are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. You could not be more richly blessed than you are. God has blessed you to the full extent of His own heart. But, we don’t always enjoy these things. You might have a million dollars in your bank account but if you don’t draw on it, you don’t enjoy it, even though it’s yours. How often we as Christians are not in the enjoyment of that which God has given us in Christ. It may be that we’ve only entered into a very little of what we have in Christ. Sometimes we’re like the person who was given a basket of precious jewels and the first one he picked up is so precious that he set the basket down and says, “I’m just satisfied. I’m just going to enjoy this one. It’s so wonderful.” But God says, “I want you to know the unsearchable riches of Christ.” I believe it is so blessed and so important that we should see these two things. Our whole Christian life depends upon seeing God’s purposes toward us and our responsibility to Him. That is, we need to know how richly we are blessed. Your sins are forgiven. You are a member of the body of Christ. You’re already added to the Church. There’s nothing more that God could give to you in His purposes that He hasn’t already given to you. But, I could ask myself and you could ask yourself, “Have I just picked out one jewel and said, “Well I know I’m saved and I’m satisfied with that.” Or are you picking out more and more, enjoying as the scripture says, “The unsearchable riches of Christ.” You will notice if you read the Bible carefully that God always begins with His purpose. When man was created he was placed there in that wonderful scene, fresh from the hand of God. It tells us in Proverbs, “My delights were with the sons of men” (Prov. 8:3131Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:31)). This wonderful world that we live in, God made it for our blessing, for our happiness. God Himself planted the garden there that they might enjoy His own handiwork. But, in responsibility, they reached out for the one forbidden thing. And as J.N. Darby once said, “How often does one forbidden thing hide from our view a thousand blessings.” We reach out for something forbidden and don’t enjoy the precious things that could be and are ours in Christ. So they reached out.
Sin came in and spoiled it. In Exodus God had purposes to bring His people Israel out from bondage and bring them into that good land. He brought them into that good land but they soon spoiled it because of their own self will. The land is theirs. They are going to get it in a future day. But they spoiled it. And we often spoil the enjoyment of the blessings God has for us because we are pretty self-willed too.
We come to this book of Leviticus and we see, in these opening chapters, God bringing before us the various offerings that He had purposed, giving to us a picture of the things that we have through the work of Christ. Each one of the offerings mentioned in what I read in the beginning of this chapter were all brought before us because they were the ground on which Israel could be blessed. We read, “It was on the eighth day.” I think we all know that the eighth day brings before us the thought of new creation. There are seven days in a week. The eighth day is the beginning of a new week. You and I belong to new creation. “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature,” or “There is a new creation.” “Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)). On what basis does this blessing depend? All upon the glorious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus accomplished at Calvary. We have different views of this in those offerings. We have the sin offering, the burnt offering, the peace offering, and the meat offering. Those different offerings are brought before us in this chapter to show us the various aspects of the work of Christ. The burnt offering, which in Leviticus comes first, brings before us what the work of Christ is to God. That is most precious for us to see because we need to enter into that side of things to really enjoy the heart of God. Pardon me for repeating an illustration that I have sometimes used to make this clear because I myself had a difficulty understanding the burnt offering. Suppose I had a great debt that I’m not able to pay and a friend comes along to me and says, “Gordon, I’ll pay your debt for you. Just give me the bills.” And he goes and pays my debt, comes back and puts the receipt into my hand. I say, “Thank you.” It’s a wonderful feeling to be out of debt, to know all my debts are paid. But I don’t know anything about my creditor. Does he like me or does he not? Does he have a son who likes me or does he not? I don’t know. I just know my debt is paid. That’s the sin offering. It’s true, the debt has been paid, but who paid it? Who paid it? Supposing my creditor had said to his son, “I love that Gordon Hayhoe and I would like to show my love toward him. Would you be willing to sell your house and raise the money so we can take this debt off our books?” And he says, “Yes, I’d be willing to do that. It’s a great cost to me to give up my house, but I’d be willing to do that.” So he sells his home. The debt is paid and my creditor sends a note to me, “Paid in full through the kindness of my son.” Isn’t that more than knowing that my debt is paid? That’s the burnt offering, brethren. The Lord Jesus, it says “He hath given Himself for an offering and a sacrifice for a sweet smelling savor” (Eph. 5:22And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor. (Ephesians 5:2)). How wonderful. You know the heart of God. It’s not just that you are forgiven and your sins are gone, but God has revealed Himself in His Son. That’s the burnt offering. That is why we speak of it as being God’s side. He has told of His heart and at so great a cost. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)). Then we have the meat offering. That is the Lord Jesus becoming a man to accomplish this. His blessed holy manhood walking in this world, a man, suffering those things that we go through and bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. This morning we entered into some little measure, I trust, what it meant to Him in His own body to bear that awful load of sin and guilt that was laid upon Him. “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)). He was the true meat offering. He became a man. I believe, in the new translation it’s called the meal offering. It’s really the Lord becoming a man, the perfect One down here in this world. He became a man that He might die, and die for you and me. Then there was the peace offering. The peace offering means that our hearts were at enmity with God. But, because of what God has done in giving His son, the enmity is gone. “If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:1010For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)). Oh how wonderful that we were reconciled! “We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom. 5:1111And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:11)). When I owed that great debt and a friend paid it, I still didn’t feel too kindly toward my creditor, but when his own son paid it, and he was sent by his father to pay it, oh what a different feeling I had. Brethren, you and I have been reconciled to God by the death of His Son. That’s the peace offering. Then we have the sin offering. The whole question of sin and guilt–the sin offering, the trespass offering, all that we were as sinners was fully met in the death of Christ. How blessed, and so all these offerings are brought before us. We may not fully enjoy them now, but brethren, we’re going to someday.
This was the eighth day. Here we find three times how the sons of Aaron presented the blood. In the Scriptures the sons of Aaron represent the Church as a worshipping company. We had that privilege this morning of being gathered around the Lord Jesus as a worshipping company to be occupied with Him. And didn’t we present the blood? “The holiest we enter in perfect peace with God, through whom we found our center in Jesus and His blood” (Little Flock #114). So we see how beautiful the pictures of the Old Testament are and how they speak to our hearts. I hope you dear young people will lay hold in some little measure these things because it’s a good thing to enjoy them when you are young. You’ll appreciate the privilege of being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus and the place that we are in before Him much more when you lay hold of these things. In type, in the Old Testament, in reality brought before us in the New.
Then, in the end of the chapter, we have what I believe we might say as regards Israel, a millennial picture. That is, Israel is still residing in unbelief. They still reject their Messiah. They don’t see what has been accomplished for them. But on the ground of that one sacrifice accomplished on Calvary, Israel is going to be brought into blessing and they are going to just see what we have in the end of this chapter. Notice that little expression in the 21st verse. “And the breast and the right shoulder, Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord.” What does the shoulder speak of? His strength. His strength. When He picks up the lamb He lays it upon His shoulders and He carries it home rejoicing. Look at Israel today and all the sorrow that they are in because they rejected their Messiah. Is there strength in the Lord to bring that people into blessing? Israel is going to see their Messiah, see the wounds in His hands and in confession and mourning they are going to acknowledge their guilt. They will say, “This is our God. We have waited for Him. He will save us” (Isa. 25:99And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:9)). What a day of Millennial glory there will be. On what ground? Because Israel has been faithful? No, the Scripture says that they will have to say, “We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth” (Isa. 26:1818We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. (Isaiah 26:18)). They will have to say, “We did not do it.” Not by all their crafty plans they are going through right now to try and establish themselves in peace in their land. Nothing is going to work. God calls it a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. It is not going to work. But are the purposes of God going to be fulfilled? Yes. Is God going to work in the hearts of the people and bring them to repentance? Yes, He is. Here we find Moses and Aaron. The Lord is going to be king and priest to them and He is going to reign over them and He is going to bring peace. They like to say, “Shalom” when they meet each other but the true Shalom is the Lord Jesus. He is the only One who can and He will bring peace to that nation and peace to this earth. All man’s efforts will never accomplish it. We have the sacrifices here and isn’t this nice, the breast and the shoulder. The Lord said to Israel, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:33The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)). It says, “Yea, He loved the people. All His saints are in Thy hand” (Deut. 33:33Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. (Deuteronomy 33:3)). His love and His power are going to accomplish this and so we see here the waving the wave breast and the heave shoulder. The glory of the Lord appearing, the sacrifice consumed and the blessing coming to the people. I say again, we have purpose before responsibility. God’s purpose is to bless that nation and He’s going to do it, but not through any of their efforts. All is through the work that Christ has accomplished and because God will never be frustrated in any of His purposes. “For all the promises of God in Him are yea and in Him amen unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:2020For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)). God has made these promises yea and amen. They are all going to be fulfilled in God’s purposes.
Now brethren, my thought was to apply this in a practical way to ourselves because in the tenth chapter, we see what I am sure saddens your heart and saddens mine. As soon as the people were placed under responsibility, failure comes in. But was it all up with the people just because they had failed? I think it’s so beautifully brought out in this tenth chapter how God graciously comes in, in spite of our failure. We think of that church which began on the day of Pentecost. We think of the multitude of disciples all of one heart and one soul. There weren’t some going one way and one another. There was only the Church and the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved. People didn’t join churches. The Lord added to the Church and if you are not saved you are not part of the Church. If you are saved, you are part of it. You may not be giving expression to it. If you haven’t broken bread as a member of the body of Christ, you haven’t given expression to the truth that there is one body but you are part of it. You give expression to it, in the breaking of bread. That’s what the Lord’s table is. If you read 1 Corinthians 10, you see what the Lord’s table is. The one loaf as we had on the table this morning represents every member of the body of Christ. All may not be there but that is what it represents. So we see in the beginning of this chapter responsibility coming in now. I say again how the Church has failed in its responsibility. Must we give up because failure has come in? I think it’s so lovely the way this chapter after bringing before us in the chapters before the purposes of God to bless, then we see responsibility come in. We see it in the early church. How beautiful things were on the day of Pentecost when they were all of one heart and one soul and giving the Lord His rightful place and recognizing every other believer as being co-heirs. It was lovely to see what began. But it wasn’t long before failure came in. Annanias and Sapphira lied. The people began quarreling because they felt they were neglected. Maybe you feel kind of neglected too. Somebody’s getting a little more attention than you. That was one of the first things that came in, in the church, and caused difficulties. But we see when the grace of God was operative how they overcame, even in that situation. The wave breast and the heave shoulder carry us through. The Lord has the strength. He loves the people. How precious, how He carries us through the difficulties when we look to Him. But, I say again, the Church has failed. I’m part of the failure, I hope you own that you are part of it too. Individually and collectively we are part of the failure, but we see in this chapter God’s provision even when failure came in. I trust we will be able to look at the little details in this chapter, with the Lord’s help, in such a way that they will speak to us and cause us to be encouraged. These two men had been chosen to be priests (Every believer is a priest). But it tells us they offered strange fire. Perhaps you wondered what the expression was. God had said that the fire for the incense was to come from the altar of burnt offering. I suppose Nadab and Abihu said, “Nobody will know the difference. It will smell the same, no matter where we get the fire.” So they used strange fire. Maybe a lot of the people didn’t know the difference, but the Lord did. You know, it isn’t how well you could sing this morning or how well I could sing. Maybe you sang a lot more melodiously than I did, but the Lord knows if that worship was from your heart and my heart. That is what He values. “The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:2323But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23)). You could have gone this morning to a place where they had a choir. You could have gone where they had the grandest music and it would have sounded really nice, I’m sure, to hear that. Sometimes even unsaved people participate. I worked with a man who was the organist in a church and he wasn’t even saved. I know he could play the organ well and I’m sure that if you had gone there you would have heard some wonderful music but there was nothing for God in it. Maybe the people were entertained and enjoyed it. Strange fire. What does the Lord want? I say again brethren, “no heart but of the Spirit taught makes melody to thee” (Little Flock #206). May our hearts be in tune that as we sing those songs that our hearts might be taken up with the blessed One who is the delight of the heart of God. Worship is to present Christ to God in all the loveliness of His person and of His work. That’s what worship is. Just like if I come to say thank you because this man’s son has paid my debt, the more I speak well of his son, the more he is pleased. “Oh,” he says, “you can’t speak too nicely about my son. I think he is a wonderful son. I love my son.” “The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand” (John 3:3535The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. (John 3:35)). I say again, these people offered strange fire. Maybe the other people there didn’t know the difference. To them, the incense smelled the same. But to God it was entirely different. God is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He looked down this morning. Maybe the one who could sing very imperfectly, who failed to keep the tune just as he should had more melody to the heart of God. We see what happened. Failure came in. Failure came in early in the Church of God. Failure came in here, after all the gracious provision that God had made. What were they to do? First, the holiness of God must be maintained. The Bible says, “Holiness becometh Thine house O God forever” (Psa. 93:55Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever. (Psalm 93:5)). What happened when Annanias and Sapphira offered strange fire? They had to be carried out just the same as these two men, Nadab and Abihu. “Holiness becometh Thine house.” Perhaps you say, I don’t like discipline. God doesn’t like it either, but it is necessary to maintain the holiness of His house. It’s necessary. It was necessary here and we see that it had to be carried out because, I say again, “Holiness becometh Thine house.” So they were told in the 3rd verse, “Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is that the Lord spake saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh unto Me and before all the people I will be glorified.” I just wanted to call attention to that little expression, “Aaron held his peace.” Sometimes it is hard to hold our peace isn’t it? We have too much to say sometimes when we should be quiet. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:1010Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)). Sometimes we just have to be quiet and acknowledge that God is speaking. That is very solemn. He is in the midst and holiness becomes His house. Well, it is nice to see that Aaron held his peace. The bodies of these men were carried outside the camp because the Lord was in the midst at this time. The Tabernacle, as you perhaps know, was planned to be right in the midst. That is, they were to encamp all around it. That was the original plan. When evil came in, He took the tabernacle and pitched it outside the camp. At the start, it was God’s plan that He should dwell in the midst. And in the coming day of glory the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. “The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 7:1717For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 7:17)). That was God’s original plan.
It tells us in the 7th verse, “Ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation lest ye die for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.” Do you think that the remaining part of the family felt very badly about this? I’m sure they did. Were they going to give up? You say, “There is so much trouble in our meeting. I just feel like giving up.” There was trouble here, wasn’t there? Real trouble. Two people smitten dead before the Lord. Real trouble wasn’t it? Were they to give up? Oh, brethren, don’t give up. Don’t give up. The Lord is faithful and we see here that He is faithful and it is important that we go on. Keep on in that path that He has marked out for us and don’t get discouraged. That is what the enemy would like us to say, “Well, I give up.” Thank God He hasn’t given up. The Lord Jesus has asked us to continue to remember Him. For how long? Until He comes. He hasn’t come yet and He’s asked us to continue. Our brother C.H. Brown used to say, “He wouldn’t ask us to continue if He were not going to and is not able to preserve a place where it will be ordered according to His mind and will.” Not that there’s perfection there, but that it is ordered according to His mind and will and Word. Oh, how precious. Don’t give up. Keep on in that path that God has marked out.
Then it says in the 8th verse, “And the Lord spake unto Aaron saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink thou nor thy sons with thee when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy; between unclean and clean: And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.” When it says, “Do not drink wine nor strong drink,” I think it’s a figure of that which excites nature. Brethren can’t we say that with what has happened in much of Christendom, as spiritual life has declined more and more, there is that which appeals to the first man. I don’t say music is wrong. Music has its place but in worship it is what comes from the heart that God has ordained. We worship in spirit and in truth. You say, the meetings are rather dull and there isn’t very much activity; if there was just a little excitement. The world is filled with that. There is a lot of substituting excitement and entertainment to cover up, shall I say, the real declension that has come in. What is the result? There is a lack of discernment. People are gathered because they like the service, they like all the entertainment. You say, “I could just go. I just enjoy the singing and the music and all that goes on.” So often we get taken up with that sort of thing. The meetings may be rather quiet. We are not to introduce into it that which excites nature. I say again, what God wants is reality. The only true worship is that which is produced by the Spirit of God. We don’t come together to hear a sermon or to be entertained. We come together to be around the Lord Jesus, to thank Him for what He has done for us, to remember Him in His death. So isn’t this nice to teach in Israel statutes and judgment. We are very thankful that we have the real privilege in these times together so far to have His word before us. I trust with each one of us, in some measure, there has been sitting at Jesus’ feet to hear His word, to know what He wants us to do, how He wants us to gather, how He wants us to deal with our home life, our business life, everything. There is instruction in the Word of God for all things that pertain unto life and Godliness. “That you may put difference between holy and unholy; between unclean and clean.” There are some kinds of entertainment that are not clean. Stay away from them dear young people. They will harm you. They won’t do you good. Here we find, even when failure came in, the gracious provision of God. First, don’t give up, don’t bring in a lot of excitement to substitute for communion. But, just walk on in quiet communion and obedience to the Lord recognizing and enjoying all that God has provided for us, but not going beyond His word. God tells us not to take away from His work, not to add to His word. So we see obedience impressed upon them.
Then in the 12th verse, “And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy.” As we mentioned before, the meat offering speaks to us of the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. I think it is lovely the way this is brought in. How did the Lord Jesus act? Was He despised and rejected? Did He find things the way He should among His people when He came here? No, but it says, “When He was reviled, reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:2323Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:23)). We have to sometimes learn just to commit our way unto the Lord. Remember you won’t have to give an account for somebody else, just for yourself. A dear brother that I know had been away from the Lord’s table for a little while and he wanted to come back. He said to me, “Gordon, I would be willing to come back but I don’t think I was the only one who was wrong.” He said, “If that other brother would be willing to admit that he is wrong, I would be willing to admit that I was wrong.” And I said, “Well, brother, the Bible says, ‘Every man shall give account of himself to God.’” You don’t have to give an account for that other brother. Maybe he was wrong, but you don’t have to give an account for him. You do have to give an account for yourself. If you really feel (I wasn’t the judge) that you have done what is wrong, why don’t you go to the brethren, never mention the other brother. Just say, “I was wrong. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Well, he did by the grace of God and he was restored. He is still with us to this day going on happily. If there is something that has come in, maybe there is some other brother didn’t act the way he should, some sister offended you, they hurt you. You say, “I’m waiting until they say they are sorry.” You mean you are going to wait and wait so that you may never go on with the Lord anymore because of something some other brother did? You can pray for him and we should, but everyone shall give an account of himself to God. So, here we find they were to eat the meat offering or the meal offering. What a perfect example we have in our precious Saviour, the head of the Body, the Church, and all His blessed pathway here.
Then it goes on to say in verse 14, “The wave breast and the heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place: thou and thy sons and thy daughters with thee. For they be thy due and thy sons’ due which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thine, and thy sons’ with thee by a statute forever; as the Lord hath commanded.” You know, the enemy would like us to get discouraged. He would like us to say it is no use. Everything is so weak. It is going to pieces. You can still feed upon the wave breast and the heave shoulder. I think you understand just what that means. The wave breast. Has the Lord ceased to love His church? “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:11Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1)). Are you and I feeding upon that? Are we enjoying His love, unchanged by all the failure that has come in. We have that privilege. It’s thy due. For how long? Until the failure gets to a certain point that you can’t recognize it anymore? Oh no, it says, “Thy portion forever.” Isn’t that lovely? His love—“Having loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end” (John 13:11Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1)). “I have loved Thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:33The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)). Does He have the strength? The heave shoulder, that is thy due. Isn’t it nice too, it says, thy sons and thy daughters. May I just say a little word to the sisters, “You don’t know what an encouragement you can be when you help the brothers that are seeking, in weakness, to carry on in the assembly. They feel their weakness and a sister just says, “Oh, I am so glad the Lord encouraged you this morning to open your mouth.” It’s a little bit of encouragement that you can get in a day of ruin. We find that Deborah stirred up Barak and he accomplished something for the Lord. You say, “Well, we are sisters, we’re supposed to be silent.” But, you don’t have to be silent at home. You don’t have to be silent when you talk things over. You can say little words of encouragement. “They be thy due and thy sons’ due.” I don’t think there is a man here that wouldn’t say that sometimes a sister, just by a little word of encouragement, made a big difference in his life for the glory of God. Don’t ever think that because you don’t speak audibly that you are not important.” God brings this before us so beautifully in the Old Testament as well as in the New where we see sisters having a great influence, even although their place was not a public place. May the Lord encourage us through this. “They be thy due.” Never, never forget the heart of the Lord has not changed toward His people and His strength is there to meet the difficulties of the way. “Trust ye in the Lord forever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isa. 26:44Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: (Isaiah 26:4)). How often we are surprised when we pray about something that seems impossible. I remember one time we were speaking about a certain brother that we were having some problems with and they said, “He’ll never change his mind.” But the brethren prayed about it. The brethren prayed about it and I could hardly believe the way he turned around. The Lord wrought. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Prov. 21:11The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)). With God nothing shall be impossible. And so it says, “It shall be thine and thy sons with thee for a statue forever for so I am commanded.”
Just a little bit about the end here. It says in this 16th verse, “And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, and to make an atonement for them before the Lord.” I think we have heard a little bit lately about eating the sin offering. In other words, we identify ourselves with the failure that has come in. If I might put it this way, were Eleazar and Ithamar the sons that remained any better than the two that had been smitten dead? No, it was only grace that had preserved those two because, in heart, they were no better. They were no better. Brethren whenever failure comes in, we need to say, “I could have done that. I would have done it, but for the grace of God. That person in himself is no worse than me.” Maybe the Lord in His goodness has kept you. Praise Him if He has but never think you are better. Eating the sin offering is identifying ourselves with the failure and recognizing that if God in His grace has preserved us individually and a testimony collectively it isn’t because we are a little better group of people than some other group. It’s only His wondrous grace. They didn’t do that. We don’t do it either sometimes. We don’t realize our own nothingness and our own weakness. Well, Moses was concerned about that. Sometimes we have to hang our heads. I want you to notice what is very beautiful here. In the 19th verse, “And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things have befallen me and if I had eaten the sin offering today should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” I think this is wonderful. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar but who answered? Did Eleazar and Ithamar answer? No, it was Aaron who answered. Brethren we are a weak group. The Lord in His grace has preserved a testimony gathered to His precious name, I believe. We haven’t, I’m sure, eaten the sin offering like we should but we have a Great High Priest. Isn’t this lovely. Aaron answered for them. He didn’t excuse them. He said, as it were, they should have done it. They didn’t do it. He interceded for them. God never excuses our failure but He does intercede for our weakness. We’re very weak brethren, but we have a Great High Priest and He is up there. He doesn’t want us to do something just forced. If they had done it without reality it wouldn’t have had value in the sight of God. I could say, “Yes, I am just as bad as him,” but in my heart do I feel it? In my heart do I feel it? We can say words quite easily but the Lord looks on the heart. Here, I believe that we can see that Aaron intercedes for them in their weakness. It says, “When Moses heard that, he was content.” Brethren, isn’t it lovely? I think all of us have to hang our heads and say we haven’t entered into these things as we should. We haven’t realized that we are no better than others. We are not as humble as we should be for the wondrous love and grace and faithfulness of God, and yet, He has preserved a testimony in His faithfulness. We have a Great High Priest. He is living for us. He is interceding for us in our weakness. He doesn’t excuse our failure but He intercedes for our weakness. Isn’t it true, we are weak, failing individuals, as a company gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. We can’t lift our heads and say we are the kind that we should be. No, we have only to say, “It’s only wondrous grace that has preserved a testimony for the glory of God.” We can only say, “Lord keep me and keep us for His glory.” The Lord in His patience, in His wondrous grace has preserved and kept, I believe brethren, a testimony gathered to His precious name. I would say to everyone here, and to myself, and to you dear young people, don’t give up. Don’t give up. Those who were in that place of nearness, were told, don’t give up even though failure has come in. But you say, “There is failure even in the responsible ones that remain.” Yes there is failure in us too. How wonderful to count upon the faithfulness of God. But, go on. What were they to do? They were to teach in Israel to put difference between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean. I don’t mean by what I have said that God ever lowers His standards. But isn’t He gracious with us in bearing with us. May we learn by these precious things that He has recorded in His Word what He is as a merciful and faithful High Priest and He has given us the privilege. I say again what I said at the beginning, we have privilege. Oh how wonderfully we are blessed in Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ, I’m going to see the whole Church of God up there presented in all the loveliness of Christ holy and without blame in His presence and presented there spotless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. But we are still here brethren. May the Lord keep us in the path that He has marked out. May these lessons speak to our hearts and encourage us to still go on in the path that He has marked out for us, with our heads down but with hearts that are looking up to Him, feeding upon the wave breast and the heave shoulder until He comes.
Hymn #23 “How good is the God we adore...”